HE 


• 


•NRLF 


171    4b5 

ur  fcAKLY  KAILROAD  LEGISLATION 
IN  WISCONSIN 


BY 


BALTHASAR  HENRY  MEYER,  PH.  D. 


[From  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  Vol.  XIV 


MADISON 

STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WISCONSIN 
1898 


A  HISTORY  OF  EARLY  RAILROAD  LEGISLATION 
IN  WISCONSIN 


BY 
BALTHASAR  HENRY  MEYER,  PH.  D. 


OP  THE 

TTNIVERSITY 


[From  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  Vol.  XIV 


MADISON 

STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WISCONSIN 
1898 


A  HISTORY  OF  EARLY  RAILROAD  LEGISLATION 
IN  WISCONSIN.1 


BY  BALTHASAR  HENRY  MEYER,  PH.  D. 

\ 

Contents. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Wisconsin  railroad  history  from  1836  to  1851. 

1.  The  beginning  of  the  railroad  agitation. 

2.  Roads,  canals,  or  railroads? 

3.  The  school  fund,  and  the  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal  lands. 

4.  Internal  improvements  in  the  constitutional  conventions.     State  or 

private  enterprise? 

5.  A  proposed  system  of  internal  improvements.     The  Chicago  conven- 

tion. 

6.  Asa  Whitney's  Oregon  railroad. 

7.  The  element  of  rivalry.    Summary. 

CHAPTER  II. 
Early  railroad  charters,  1836  to  1853. 

1.  What  the  charters  contain.    General  provisions. 

2.  Wherein  the  charters  differ. 

3.  What  the  charters  do  not  contain. 

4.  Sources  of  the  charters. 

APPENDIX. 
Analytical  digest  of  early  Wisconsin  railroad  charters. 

CHAPTER  I. 

WISCONSIN   RAILROAD  HISTORY   FROM  1836  TO  1851. 

1.   The  beginning  of  the  railroad  agitation. 
The  initial  step  in  the  movement  which  nearly  fourteen- 
and-a-half  years  later  resulted  in  the  opening  of  the  first  line 

1  This  essay  contains  the  first  two  chapters  of  a  thesis  submitted  for  the 
degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy,  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin. 


1836.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  2O7 

of  railroads  in  Wisconsin,  was  taken  at  Milwaukee  on  Sat- 
urday, September  17,  1836.  During  the  evening  of  that  day, 
a  number  of  citizens  met  at  one  of  the  hotels  to  exchange 
views  and  adopt  measures  in  relation  to  a  proposed  rail- 
road from  Milwaukee  to  the  Mississippi.1  The  local  editor 
enthusiastically  reviewed  the  meeting,  and  remarked  that 
the  project  had  been  "favorably  noticed  abroad."2  New 
York  papers,  he  said,  speak  of  it  as  of  greatest  importance 
to  Wisconsin  and  to  New  York.  It  was  one  of  the  favorite 
methods  of  our  early  editors  to  appeal  to  Eastern  papers 
in  support  of  their  projects;  although,  in  many  instances, 
the  quotations  or  sentiments  attributed  to  New  York  or 
Boston  papers  were  communications  written  by  Western 
men.  Appearing  originally  in  Eastern  papers  over  the 
writer's  name,  they  were,  when  quoted  in  Western  papers, 
frequently  attributed  simply  to  the  Eastern  paper,  and  not 
to  the  Western  inspirer  or  author.  Sometimes,  indeed,  al- 
leged "  indorsements  "  were  often  reported  in  the  West, — 
such  was  the  case  on  this  occasion,  —  days  before  the  fast- 
est existing  mail  could  have  conveyed  the  news.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  the  Milwaukee  meeting  accomplished  its  object. 
It  was  decided  to  petition  the  Territorial  legislature,  at  its 
next  session,  to  pass  an  act  incorporating  a  company  for 
the  purpose  of  constructing  a  railroad  from  Milwaukee  to 
the  Mississippi,  by  way  of  Mineral  Point.  A  committee 
of  fifteen  was  appointed  to  correspond  with  people  of  other 
parts  of  the  Territory,  to  circulate  petitions,  "  and  in  gen- 
eral to  take  such  measures  as  they  may  deem  proper  and 
needful  to  carry  into  effect  the  objects  of  the  meeting." 
This  committee  was  composed  of  Samuel  Brown,  who  had 
acted  as  president  of  the  meeting,  Byron  Kilbourn,  its  sec- 
retary, N.  F.  Hyer,  H.  Crocker,  Solomon  Juneau,  William 
P.  Proudfit,  S.  D.  Hollister,  S.  W.  Dunbar,  Horace  Chase, 
William  R.  Longstreet,  A.  B.  Morton,  James  H.  Rogers, 
B.  H.  Edgerton,  William  N.  Gardner,  and  Thomas  Holmes. 
Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  movement  which  ultimately 

1  Milwaukee  Advertiser,  September  15,  1836. 

2 Id.,  September  22.    There  was  then  no  daily  paper  in  Milwaukee. 


2O8  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

resulted  in  what  we  now   know  as  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee &  St.  Paul  Railway  system. 

The  same  issue  of  the  Milwaukee  Advertiser  which  re- 
ported the  above  meeting,  contained  in  its  advertising  col- 
umns an  announcement  that  an  application  would  be  made 
to  the  Territorial  council,  at  its  next  session,  for  an  act  to 
incorporate  a  company  to  construct  a  railroad  from  Mil- 
waukee to  the  city  of  Superior.  The  editor  confesses  him- 
self so  ignorant  of  the  geography  of  the  Territory,  and  so 
far  behind  the  age  of  speculation,  that  he  does  not  know 
the  location  of  this  northern  city;  he  pertinently  protests 
against  chartering  a  railroad  company  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  some  town  into  public  notice.  Considering  the 
primitive  conditions  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  such  a  project 
was  certainly  absurd;  probably  it  was  designed  simply  to 
arouse  interest  in  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railway. 
According  to  the  first  Territorial  census,  taken  in  1836,  Wis- 
consin's white  population  probably  did  not  exceed  12,000, 
nearly  all  of  which  was  confined  to  two  small  areas  in  the 
southeastern  and  the  southwestern  parts  of  the  Territory,1 
so  that  one  terminus  and  the  whole  length  of  the  Milwaukee 
&  Superior  R.  R.  would  have  lain  in  an  uninhabited  coun- 
try. The  journals  of  the  Territorial  council  and  house  of 
representatives  for  1836,  contain  no  mention  of  the  Mil- 
waukee &  Superior,  but  record  the  failure  of  the  Milwau- 
kee &  Mississippi  scheme.  This  was  due  largely  to  the 
opposition  of  the  promoters  of  the  Belmont  &  Dubuque 
R.  R.,  who  secured  a  charter  during  this  session.2  At  about 

irThwaites's  "The  Territorial  Census  for  1836,"  Wis.  Hist.  Colls., 
xiii,  p.  247,  and  map.  This  census  was  taken  in  the  four  counties  of  Mil- 
waukee, Iowa,  Crawford,  and  Brown,  the  two  latter  each  including  a  tri- 
angular tract  between  the  St.  Croix  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  the  Me- 
nomonee  river  and  Green  Bay,  respectively  (now  belonging  to  Minnesota 
and  to  Michigan).  These  four  counties  included  nearly  all  of  the  territory 
comprised  in  the  present  State  of  Wisconsin,  and  had  a  total  population  of 
11,683.  The  Territory,  in  1836,  "  embraced  all  of  the  present  Iowa  and 
Minnesota,  and  the  country  still  farther  westward  to  about  the  site  of  Bis- 
marck, N.  Dak." 

2  Belmont,  Iowa  county,  was  then  the  capital.    Out  of  a  total  of  seven 


1836.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  2OQ 

the  same  time  the  La  Fontaine  charter,  providing  for  a 
railroad  from  La  Fontaine,  on  the  Fox  River,  to  Winnebago 
City,  on  the  northeastern  shore  of  Lake  Winnebago, —  a 
distance  of  about  thirteen  miles, — was  granted.  Nothing 
€ame  of  this  project. 

While  the  Milwaukee  meeting  of  September,  1836,  was 
the  first  definite  step  leading  directly  towards  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  R.  R.  Co. ,  the  agita- 
tion dates  farther  back.  On  January  13,  1836,  Mr.  Edger- 
ton,  whose  name  appears  in  the  list  of  members  of  the  com- 
mittee given  above,  and  who  was  at  this  time  a  member  of 
the  committee  on  internal  improvements  of  the  legislative 
council  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,1  then  in  session  at 
Green  Bay,  reported  in  favor  of  a  memorial  to  congress. 
This  calls  the  attention  of  congress  to  the  increasing  lake 
traffic,  and  to  the  necessity  of  constructing  light-houses 
and  improving  harbors.  It  dwells  upon  the  importance  of 
the  Fox,  Wisconsin,  and  Mississippi  rivers;  and  asks  for 
an  appropriation  to  survey  them  and  remove  obstruc- 
tions, asserting  that  the  loss  of  time,  and  the  damage  to 
vessels  and  cargo,  exceeded  ten  per  cent  of  the  whole 
amount  of  merchandise  transported  —  or  a  dead  loss  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars  annually.  It  recites  delays  and 
injuries  of  the  mails,  and  difficulties  encountered  in  mov- 
ing troops  from  Fort  Howard.  But  the  burden  of  the 
memorial  falls  upon  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  R.  R. 
This  railroad,  it  is  asserted,  "  claims  the  attention  of  all 
who  take  an  interest  in  the  prosperity  and  growth  of  our 
country,"  and  congress  is  asked  to  make  an  appropriation 
for  an  examination  and  survey  of  the  route. 

Something  may  be  judged  of  the  importance  of  this  railroad  [continue 
the  memorialists],  by  calculating  the  immense  saving  that  through  its 
means  might  be  made  in  transporting  lead  by  way  of  the  Erie  Canal  to  New 
York.  The  average  cost  of  transporting  this  lead  to  the  navigable  waters 

councillors  and  fourteen  representatives  in  the  legislature,  what  was  then 
Milwaukee  county  had  two  and  three  members  respectively. 

1  Wisconsin  was  still  a  part  of  Michigan  Territory.  The  act  establishing 
Territorial  government  in  Wisconsin  was  not  passed  by  congress  until  April 
20,  1836. 

14 


210  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

of  the  Mississippi,  is  thirty-one  cents  per  hundred  pounds.  From  thence 
to  New  York,  it  is  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  hundred  pounds. 
By  means  of  a  railroad  running  directly  through  the  heart  of  the  mining 
country,  the  cost  of  transporting  this  amount  to  Lake  Michigan  would  but 
little  exceed  the  present  cost  of  transporting  it  to  the  Mississippi.  From  Lake 
Michigan,  by  way  of  the  Erie  Canal  to  New  York,  the  cost  of  transporta- 
tion is  but  forty-two  cents  per  hundred  pounds.  By  allowing  the  cost  of 
transportation  by  the  way  of  the  railroad  to  Lake  Michigan  to  be  thirty- 
five  cents  per  hundred  pounds,  which  it  will  not  exceed,  the  cost  of  trans- 
porting the  fourteen  million  pounds  of  lead  by  the  different  routes  would 
stand  thus: 

I.  By  the  way  of  New  Orleans. 

31c  per  100  for  delivering  it  upon  the  Mississippi  $43, 400  00 
$1.25  per  100  from  thence  to  New  York.  175, 400  00 

$218,800  00 

II.  By  the  way  of  the  Erie  Canal. 

35c  per  100  to  Lake  Michigan.  $49,000  00 

42c  per  100  from  thence  to  New  York.  58, 800  00 

$107,800  00 
Making  a  saving  in  the  transportation  by  way  of  the  Erie 

Canal,  of  $110,00000 

Besides  this,  persons  shipping  their  lead  by  the  way  of  the  Erie  canal 
would  be  enabled  to  get  the  proceeds  of  their  sales  at  least  three  months 
sooner  than  by  the  way  of  New  Orleans.  Valuing  the  lead  at  six  cents  per 
pound  in  New  York,  and  deducting  from  the  sum  the  amount  of  the  trans- 
portation, a  balance  of  seven  hundred  thirty-two  thousand  eight  hundred 
dollars  is  left.  The  interest  upon  this  amount,  at  seven  per  cent  for  three 
months  lost  time,  will  amount  to  twelve  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
thirteen  dollars,  which  added  to  the  balance  in  favor  of  the  Erie  canal 
route  will  amount  to  one  hundred  twenty-three  thousand  and  four  hundred 
thirteen  dollars;  add  to  this  the  saving  of  imports,  and  the  amount  will  be 
nearly  doubled.1 

The  weight  of  the  arguments  presented  in  the  memorial, 
clearly  group  themselves  about  the  lead  trade.  As  late  as 
1842,  at  a  railroad  meeting  in  Madison,  Moses  M.  Strong 
stated  that  the  transportation  of  lead  alone  would  pay  six 
per  cent  on  the  investment  in  the  proposed  Milwaukee  & 
Mississippi  R.  R.  And  this  is  the  way  he  figured  it  out: 
The  present  output  of  lead  is  twenty  million  ppunds  annu- 
ally ;  shipped  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  it  cost  $2. 50  per  hun- 
dred; from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  east,  it  would  cost  but  50 

1  Memorial  published  in  Milwaukee  Advertiser,  July  21,  1836. 


1836-46.]       WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  211 

cents;  hence  the  smelter  could  well  afford  to  pay  75  cents 
per  hundred  to  the  railroad,  saving  thereby  $1.25,  and  still 
give  the  railroad  an  annual  revenue  of  $150, 000. l  But  how 
an  investment  of  $2,500,000  could  build  and  equip  a  railroad 
from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi,  the  speaker  did  not 
explain;  nor  did  he  make  it  clear  that  the  lead  trade  could 
with  certainty  be  so  readily  deflected  from  its  old  southern 
route. 

Even  two  years  later,  a  Milwaukee  editor  expressed  the 
belief  that  the  output  of  lead  would  soon  be  so  large  that 
its  transportation  would  yield  enough  to  pay  a  "  handsome 
interest"  on  such  a  railroad  investment.2 

The  prize  of  early  Wisconsin  trade  was  shot  and  lead.3 
In  the  struggle  for  this  prize,  there  were  arrayed  against 
each  other  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  with  their  Missis- 
sippi and  Gulf  route  on  the  one  hand,  and  Chicago  and  New 
York  with  their  Erie  Canal  and  lake  route  on  the  other. 
This  also  is  brought  out  in  the  Green  Bay  memorial.  The 
agitation  for  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  R.  R.  was  but  a 
part  of  the  larger  struggle  between  the  east- and- west  route 
and  the  north -and- south  route.  But  while  the  lead  trade 
seems  to  have  been  the  chief  object  of  this  early  rivalry, 
after  about  1845  the  tendency  to  overestimate  the  impor- 
tance of  the  lead  trade  died  out,  and  the  agricultural  inter- 
ests gained  the  ascendency.  In  1846,  the  estimated  receipts 
from  tariffs  on  the  traffic  between  Milwaukee  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi amounted  to  $352,000,  divided  as  follows:4 

Agricultural  products $200, 000 

Passengers 60,000 

Merchandise 50,000 

Lead 42 , 000 

It  is  possible  that  these  figures  are  not  reliable ;  yet  it  is 
fair  to  assume  that  they  indicate  the  relative  importance 

1  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  January  29,  1842. 

2  Id.,  November  20,  1844. 

8  Cf .  Libby  "The  Significance  of  the  Lead  and  Shot  Trade  in  Early 
Wisconsin  History,"  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  vol.  xiii,  pp.  293ff. 
4  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  January  30, 1846. 


212  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

of  the  receipts.     Lead,  it  will  be  seen,  contributed  only 
about  twelve  per  cent  of  the  total. 

The  growing  importance  of  the  wheat  trade  was  re- 
inforced by  the  development  of  the  Rock  River  valley.  In 
a  letter  of  August  21,  1850,  Henry  Dodge,  writing  to  R.  J. 
Walker,  gives  the  following  figures  from  the  "  census  taken 
under  Territorial  authority:" l 

Population  in  18W.  18M. 

Kock  county 1,701  12,405 

Jefferson  county 904  8,680 

Dodge  county 67  7, 787 

These  figures  clearly  indicate  an  increasing  capacity  of 
the  Rock  River  valley  to  support  a  railroad.  Beloit  and 
Janesville  were  henceforth  to  receive  competing  bids  from 
Milwaukee,  Southport  (later  Kenosha),  Chicago,  and  the 
Mississippi  towns.  The  question  was,  In  what  direction 
shall  the  surplus  produce  of  this  rich  valley  flow?  The  ex- 
port wheat  trade  of  Milwaukee  had  risen  from  133,310 
bushels  in  1845 2  to  2,208,517  bushels  in  1849,  or  a  steady 
annual  increase  of  100  per  cent. ;  of  this,  the  Rock  River 
valley  contributed  a  large  amount. 

In  1848,  the  total  imports  of  Milwaukee  amounted  to 
$3,828,650,  while  the  exports  were  valued  at  $2,098,469.36, 
of  which  93  per  cent  was  wheat,  only  2£  per  cent  lead  and 
shot,  and  the  remainder  hides,  pork  and  beef,  and  sundries. 
During  the  same  year,  the  lead  and  shot  trade  of  St.  Louis 
had  begun  its  decline.  These  facts  support  the  statement 
made  above,  concerning  the  decreasing  relative  significance 
of  the  lead  and  shot  trade  after  1845.  Wheat  was  now  the 
prize.  "  Not  to  speak  of  mines  and  lumber,  the  one,  the 
main  and  almost  the  only  article  of  export  for  Wisconsin, 
must  be  wheat. " 3 

In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  Territory,  sentiment  was 
partly  in  favor  of  a  railroad  to  Chicago,  due  largely  to  the 

1  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  September  26,  1850. 

2  American  Railroad  Journal,  June  1,  1850,  p.  344. 

3  Id.,  March  6,  1848.    See  also,  Mineral  Point  Democrat  of  Novem- 
ber 26,  1845,  for  statistics  which  point  to  the  same  conclusion. 


1836.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION. 

great  influence  of  Galena,  which  was  pushing  the  Chicago 
&  Galena  R.  R.  project.  Southport  (Kenosha)  was  anxious 
to  build  a  railroad  to  Beloit  and  the  south,  connecting 
with  the  Chicago  &  Galena.  Both  these  factors,  as  well 
as  the  Rock  River  Valley  R.  R.  scheme,  were  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi.  However,  on 
the  whole,  western  Wisconsin  ably  supported  the  Milwau- 
kee enterprise.  "  Oh,  for  a  good  road  across  the  territory, " 
are  the  words  with  which  one  editor  of  that  section  closes 
his  exhortation.  For  want  of  such  a  road,  says  another, 
"  the  western  part  of  Wisconsin  Territory  is  actually  going 
into  decay. " l  Here  were  farmers,  occupying  one  of  the 
finest  agricultural  sections  of  the  union,  who  could  dispose 
of  only  a  small  part  of  their  produce,  and  that  altogether 
for  home  consumption.  The  difficulties  attendant  upon  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  consequent  high 
rate  of  freight,  shut  them  out  from  a  southern  outlet,  while 
bad  roads  to  the  Lake  as  effectually  prevented  them  from 
getting  an  eastern  market.  "  Large  quantities  of  surplus 
produce  have  been  left  by  our  farmers  to  rot  upon  the 
ground  the  past  season,  for  want  of  a  good  communication 
by  which  to  find  a  market.  *  *  *  The  positive  result  of 
this  state  of  things,  if  continued,  will  be  the  gradual  de- 
population of  the  western  part  of  the  Territory."  At  the 
same  time  "  great  numbers "  of  miners  and  farmers  were 
migrating  to  the  copper  region  on  Lake  Superior,  and  to 
Oregon.  Such  was  the  "  melancholy  "  condition  of  western 
Wisconsin.  Perhaps  some  of  these  accounts  were  ex- 
aggerated, yet  one  can  not  read  them  without  feeling  that 
western  Wisconsin  was  really  suffering.  Its  people  were 
longing  for  the  day  when  they  might  share  the  transporta- 
tion facilities  of  their  fellows  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
state.  A  tide  of  emigration  was  moving  westward,  with 
"  the  spray  of  the  Lake  still  on  their  garments, "  and  an- 
other was  moving  eastward  from  the  Mississippi.  There 
was  a  "  suture "  between  these  two  waves.  Their  edges 

1  Grant  County  Herald,  April  8,  1843. 


214  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

had  not  yet  united.  The  river  and  the  lake  had  been  "feel- 
ing for  each  other, "  and  the  railroad  must  unite  them,  even 
though  "  Sin  and  Death "  should  get  the  contract.1 

The  country  immediately  west  of  the  Mississippi  re-ech- 
oed these  sentiments.  Internal-improvement  conventions 
and  railroad  meetings  were  held,  during  various  intervals, 
at  McGregor,  Dubuque,  Keokuk,  Cedar  Rapids,  and  other 
places.  A  memorial  was  addressed  to  the  Wisconsin  legis- 
lature, by  the  legislature  of  Iowa,  praying  for  direct  com- 
munication with  the  lake.  Iowa,  a  "  rich  and  fast  grow- 
ing State, "  would  then  pour  her  surplus  produce  into  Wis- 
consin and  swell  the  revenues  of  this  railroad.2  While  the 
expressions  of  these  meetings  and  of  the  legislature  may 
have  been  inspired  largely  by  men  personally  interested, 
they  could  not  have  received  such  wide  support  had  there 
not  been  something  genuine  at  the  bottom.  Econom- 
ically, southwestern  Wisconsin  and  eastern  Iowa  were  a 
unit.  "Although  once  united  with  us,3  Law  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi have  now  divorced  the  great  Territories,  Iowa  and 
Wisconsin.  If  a  mountain  ridge  like  the  Andes  were 
planted  between  us,  we  should  not  be  more  effectually 
separated  than  we  now  are  because  neither  Iowa  nor  Wis- 
consin would  rest  until  they  had  bored  some  holes  through 
Nature's  great  partition  walls,  so  that  they  could  pass  back 
and  forth  at  less  expense  than  the  present  cost  of  ferriage. 
*  *  *  The  position  of  Iowa,  the  laws  of  trade,  the  bound- 
less resources  of  Iowa,  so  rapidly  developing,  her  business 
and  her  products  swelling  and  pressing  onward  to  the 
shores  of  the  Mississippi  must  and  will  force  a  channel  of 
trade  eastward  through  the  valleys  of  the  Lakes.  Of  this 
business  and  trade,  Dubuque  is  destined  to  be  the  grand 
depot. "  * 

1  Grant  County  Herald,  September  5,  1846. 

2  Prairie  du  Chien  Patriot,  February  23,  1846;  February  28,   1849; 
January  16,  1850. 

3  It  will  be  remembered  that  Iowa  was  at  one  time  a  part  of  Wisconsin 
Territory. 

4  Grant  County  Herald,  October  10,  1846. 


1836.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  215 

This  clamor  did  not  fall  on  deaf  ears.  Both  the  Terri- 
torial legislatures  and  governors  took  up  the  cry.  In  his 
first  message  (October  26,  1836),  Governor  Dodge  devotes 
some  space  to  the  general  question  of  internal  improve- 
ments, and  then  commends  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi 
project  to  the  "  citizens  of  Wisconsin  who  have  strong 
claims  on  the  patronage  of  the  government  in  granting  a 
donation  in  land  for  that  important  purpose. " l  These  al- 
leged claims  of  Wisconsin  to  federal  patronage  were  based 
on  the  tolls,  amounting  to  "  millions  of  pounds  of  lead  an- 
nually,"  which  were  paid  for  the  use  of  the  lead  mines.2 
The  legislature,  in  response  to  Governor  Dodge's  appeal, 
memorialized  congress,  setting  forth  the  usual  arguments, 
and  asking  for  an  appropriation.3  Congress  finally  appro- 
priated $2,000  for  a  survey.4  Under  the  direction  of  the 
federal  government  a  topographical  engineer  actually  be- 
gan the  work,  but  after  having  examined  about  twenty 
miles  of  the  route  reported  against  the  plan.5  Meanwhile 
five  years  had  elapsed,  and  at  the  end  of  this  time  the  favor- 
ite project  was  sunk  in  the  indifference  of  a  federal  en- 
gineer. At  least,  that  is  the  way  Wisconsin  people  looked 
upon  it.  They  had  become  comparatively  modest,  too.  I 
was  no  longer  a  railroad  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  or  even 

1  House  Journal,    Wis.  Legis.,  1836,  p.  13;  Milwaukee   Advertiser, 
November  3,  1836. 
27d.,  August  18,  1836. 

3  Council  Journal,  Wis.  Legis.,  1836,  p.  64.    The  policy  of  land  grants 
had  been  inaugurated  by  the  federal  government  in  1824;  it  is  therefore 
not  strange  that  Wisconsin  should,  so  early  in  her  history,  have  stretched 
out  her  hands  as  others  had  done.    The  indifference  with  which  members 
of  congress  frequently  treated  the  public  domain  is  wittily  reflected  in  one 
of  the  congressional  debates  on  the  organization  of  a  Territorial  govern- 
ment in  Wisconsin.    The  salary  of  the  governor  was  under  discussion; 
said  one  speaker:     "It  is  a  matter  of  perfect  indifference  whether  the 
salary  of  the  governor  is  fixed  at  one  cent  or  at  one  million.     If  he  is  to  be 
superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  and  governor  of  a  Territory  where  there 
is  public  land,  he  will  get  money  enough  anyhow."    Annals  24th  cong., 
1st  sess.,  p.  3222. 

4  Madison  Enquirer,  December  1,  1838. 

5  Milwaukee  Courier,  August  18,  1841. 


2l6  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

to  the  Mississippi,  that  Milwaukee  was  immediately  hop- 
ing for.  If  only  she  could  secure  one  from  Milwaukee  to 
Beloit  or  Waukesha,  that  would  be  better  than  none.  But 
ten  more  years  of  agitation  and  scheming  were  required  to 
accomplish  this  result.  Not  until  February  25,  1851,  was 
the  line  from  Milwaukee  to  Waukesha  opened  for  traffic.1 

The  necessity  of  improved  means  of  communication  and 
transportation  during  early  Wisconsin  history,  can  not  be 
enlarged  upon  here.  What  bad  roads  are,  all  of  us,  unfort- 
unately, may  still  learn  from  experience.  During  the 
years  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  it  was  not  a  rare 
occurrence  for  an  editor  to  be  out  of  paper,  so  that  sub- 
scribers were  obliged  to  content  themselves  with  a  half- 
sheet  or  no  issue  at  all.  "  Out  of  Paper "  was  the  title  of 
more  than  one  editorial.2  The  delays  in  transmitting  the 
mails  were  as  common  in  Wisconsin  as  they  had  been  in 
other  parts  of  the  country  in  the  same  stage  of  develop- 
ment. Solomon  Juneau,  postmaster  at  Milwaukee,  found 
himself  called  upon  to  explain  why  newspapers  and  letters 
mailed  in  Milwaukee  early  in  April  did  not  reach  Madison 
until  some  time  in  June.3  The  newspapers  contain  numer- 
ous articles  on  bad  roads,  and  some  of  the  bad-road  ex- 
periences are  amusing.  Thus,  the  editor  of  the  Sentinel  and 
Gazette,  in  his  account 4  of  a  trip  across  Wisconsin,  tells  us 
that  in  the  midst  of  Rock  River  woods  he  "  encountered  a 
man  with  eight  oxen  hitched  to  a  half -loaded  wagon.  The 
team  seemed  rather  disproportionate  to  the  load,  but  the 
man  gave  it  as  his  experience  that  four  yoke  of  cattle  were 

1  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  February  25, 1851:     "  All  Aboard  for  Wauke- 
eha. —  The  cars  start  for  Waukesha  at  ten  o'clock   this    morning,  and 
it  is  particularly  desired  that  all  who  wish  to  take  part  in  the  excur- 
sion be  at  the  depot  punctually  at  the  hour  named.    Dinner  will  be  pro- 
vided at  the  Company's  Car  House  at  Waukesha,  and  for  those  who  choos& 
to  remain  over  night,  a  Ball  offers  its  attractions  in  the  evening."     See 
succeeding  numbers  of  the  same  paper. 

2  Grant  County  Herald,  November,  1847;  Madison  Enquirer,  Novem- 
ber 15,  1839. 

s/d.,  July  6,  1839. 
4  October  23, 1848. 


1836.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  217 

not  too  many  to  hitch  on  to  a  buggy  over  such  roads,  and 
added  that  for  his  part  he  didn't  pretend  to  start  out  on 
any  kind  of  business  with  anything  less  than  a  breaking  team! " 

2.  Eoads,  canals,  or  railroads? 

Students  of  railroads  in  England  or  Prussia  will  remem- 
ber that  early  railroad  projects  were  opposed  not  only  by 
people  representing  the  financial  interests  of  canals  and 
highways,  but  also  by  those  who  had  not  yet  been  con- 
vinced either  of  their  utility  or  their  superiority  over  ex- 
isting means  of  transportation  and  communication.  Post- 
master-General van  Nageler,  of  Prussia,  scouted  the  idea 
of  a  railroad  from  Berlin  to  Potsdam,  saying  that  he  was 
sending  a  number  of  mail-coaches  daily  between  these  two 
places,  and  nobody  rode  in  them.  People  would  better, 
thought  Nageler,  throw  their  money  out  of  the  window 
than  invest  it  in  such  a  nonsensical  undertaking  as  a  rail- 
road. After  1830,  Germany  was  rapidly  perfecting  her 
splendid  system  of  chaussees,  and  these,  together  with  the 
canals,  were  thought  amply  sufficient  for  her  then  rapidly- 
expanding  trade.  There  was  much  reason  in  this. 

Or,  to  take  another  source  of  opposition,  one  remembers 
the  case  of  the  Bavarian  Medicinalkollegium,  who,  when  asked 
to  give  his  official  opinion  on  the  probable  effect  of  the 
speed  of  railway  trains  —  this  was  shortly  before  the  open- 
ing of  the  first  German  railroad,  Niirnberg-Furth,  in  1833  — 
on  the  human  system,  declared  that  the  rapid  motion  of 
trains  would  cause  a  derangement  of  the  mind,  a  sort  of 
delirium  fur  iosum;  if  passengers  were  foolhardy  enough  to 
expose  themselves  to  such  a  malady  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
authorities  to  protect  the  lookers-on.  Hence  this  learned 
physician  recommended  the  building  of  a  high  and  closely- 
fitting  board  fence  on  both  sides  of  the  track. 

Aller  guten  Dinge  mussen  Drei  sein.  Dr.  Lardner,  an  Eng- 
lishman, made  experiments  on  the  Liverpool  &  Manchester 
railroad,  which  led  him  to  conclude  that  the  resistance  due 
to  atmospheric  pressure  increases  in  a  proportion  so  much 
greater  than  the  speed,  that  a  velocity  of  forty  miles  an 


2l8  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.XlV. 

hour  could  not  be  maintained  except  at  a  cost  which  amounts 
practically  to  a  prohibition. 

In  fact,  a  speed  of  eight  or  nine  miles  was  all  that  it  was 
thought  could  be  generally  attained,  and  a  writer  in  the 
Quarterly  Review  tells  us  that  a  "  countryman  "  of  Telford, 
the  great  engineer,  wrote,  as  follows  about  a  proposed  rail- 
road: 

It  is  certainly  some  consolation  to  those  who  are  to  be  whirled  at  the 
rate  of  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  an  hour,  by  means  of  a  high  pressure 
engine,  to  be  told  that  they  are  in  no  danger  of  "being  sea-sick  while  on 
shore;  that  they  are  not  to  be  scalded  to  death  nor  drowned  by  the  burst- 
ing of  the  boiler;  and  that  they  need  not  mind  being  shot  by  the  scattered 
fragments,  or  dashed  in  pieces  by  flying  off,  or  the  breaking  of  a  wheel. 
But  with  all  these  assurances,  we  should  as  soon  expect  the  people  of  Wool- 
wich to  suffer  themselves  to  be  fired  off  upon  one  of  Congreve's  ricochet 
rockets,  as  trust  themselves  to  the  mercy  of  such  a  machine,  going  at  such 
a  rate.  *  *  *  We  will  back  old  father  Thames  against  the  Woolwich 
railway  for  any  sum.1 

Objections  like  these  could  find  little  support  in  Wiscon- 
sin. We  had  neither  roads  nor  canals;  nor  had  we  physi- 
cists and  physicians  who  could  oppose  railroad  projects 
upon  such  theoretical  grounds.  Under  the  spell  of  politics 
of  great  geographical  dimensions,  which  had  recently  swept 
over  the  country,  a  large  element  in  Wisconsin  was  ready 
to  plunge  into  the  wildest  projects.  This  will  be  shown 
more  clearly  in  a  subsequent  section.  The  sad  experience 
of  her  sisters  and  neighbors,  saved  Wisconsin  from  many  of 
the  evils  which  had  befallen  them.  However,  let  us  first 
consider  the  struggle  that  was  carried  on  between  those 
who  preferred  roads  or  canals  to  railroads,  and  the  grounds 
upon  which  this  struggle  was  maintained. 

The  Fox  &  Wisconsin  rivers  improvement  agitation,  to- 
gether with  the  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  canal  project, 
brought  the  subject  of  canals  before  the  public  and  kept  it 
there.  The  opening  of  the  Fox  &  Wisconsin  route  would 
have  been  the  realization  of  the  highest  hopes  of  Green 

1  Quarterly  Review,  xxxi,  p.  362.  See  also  Miners'  Free  Press 
-(Mineral  Point),  June  18,  1839. 


1846-50.]       WISCONSIN   RAILROAD    LEGISLATION. 

Bay.1  Southwestern  Wisconsin  was  not  unwilling  to  co- 
operate with  Green  Bay  to  that  end.  The  Grant  County 
Herald  of  February  6,  1847,  in  an  editorial  on  "  Rivers  vs. 
Railroads, "  says  that  it  favors  the  Portage  canal,  and  that 
the  Fox  &  Wisconsin  route  will  secure  the  Galena  and 
Potosi  lead  trade  even  if  there  were  "forty  railroads  to  Lake 
Michigan. "  The  river  route  would  be  much  cheaper.  The 
Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  railroad  would  cost  more  "  than 
the  entire  valuation  of  personal  property  in  Wisconsin." 
In  this  connection  we  must  remember,  as  Dr.  Libby  points 
out,2  that  Green  Bay  citizens  owned  mines  in  southwestern 
Wisconsin.  But  northern  interests  were  not  then  very 
strong;  and,  so  far  as  one  may  judge  by  the  press,  the 
southern  part  of  Wisconsin  never  exhibited  much  enthusi- 
asm in  favor  of  canals.  As  early  as  February  26,  1839,  the 
editor  of  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  and  Gazette  dismisses  the 
new  canal  bill  with  the  words:  "The  Canal  Bill  will  be 
found  in  our  columns  today.  We  have  neither  time  nor 
room  for  comment."  On  December  31,  1846,  the  Fond  du 
Lac  Whig  could  publish,  without  protest  or  comment,  a  long 
letter  asserting  that  the  late  convention  for  the  Fox  & 
Wisconsin  rivers  improvement  had  done  nothing,  and  that 
either  a  railroad  or  macadam  road  was  preferable  to  navi- 
gation which  it  would  take  years  to  open.  The  interests 
of  Fond  du  Lac  were  divided  between  the  Fox  &  Wiscon- 
sin improvement  and  the  Fond  du  Lac  &  Sheboygan,  and 
the  Rock  River  Valley  Union  railroad  projects.  After  the 
middle  of  the  year  1847,  railroad  interests  had  gained  the 
ascendency,  although  the  Fox  &  Wisconsin  scheme  retained 
considerable  importance,  as  we  may  judge  from  a  letter 
published  in  the  Fond  du  Lac  Journal  of  September  26, 
1850,  in  which  Mr.  Hobart  of  Sheboygan,  the  nominee  for 
congress,  explained  his  position  on  the  question  of  internal 
improvements,  and  promised  to  support  the  Fox  &  Wiscon- 
sin scheme.3  How  soon  railroad  interests  overshadowed 

1  Pond  du  Lac  Whig,  December  31,  1846;  January  7  and  21,  1847. 

2Libby's  "Significance  of  the  Lead  and  Shot  Trade." 

3  See  also  Fond  du  Lac  Whig,  February  18  and  March  18,  1847. 


22O  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

the  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal  project,  will  be  brought, 
out  in  the  section  on  the  canal  lands. 

We  come  now  to  the  struggle  between  those  who  advo- 
cated certain  other  kinds  of  roads  and  those  who  favored 
railroads.  In  this  connection,  we  may  consider  two  sources 
of  opposition:  (1)  opposition  arising  from  the  belief  that 
Wisconsin  could  not  yet  support  railroads,  and  that  mac- 
adam or  plankroads  were  more  beneficial  to  the  farmers; 
(2)  opposition  due  to  the  alleged  monopolistic  nature  of 
railroads. 

The  Milwaukee  Sentinel  and  Gazette  of  January  6,  1848, 
contains  the  following  communication: 

Mr.  Editor; — I  have  seen  much  in  your  city  papers  on  the  subject  of 
roads;  many  are  advocating  Railroads;  that  is  well;  but  have  you  capital  to 
build  them,  and  can  you  for  a  great  number  of  years  to  come,  induce  for- 
eigners to  invest  in  so  new  a  country  as  yours?  If  not,  why  do  you  not  ad- 
vocate Plank  Roads?  ten  miles  of  which  can  be  built  for  the  cost  of  one  of 
Rail  Road,  and  in  my  opinion  they  would  enhance  the  value  of  the  farming 
interest  as  well  as  the  general  prosperity  of  your  city  more  than  Rail  Roads. 
Each  farmer  could  take  a  small  interest  in  the  stock,  and  pay  for  it  in  ma- 
terials for  building,  and  do  much  of  the  labor,  thus  building  up  your  own, 
prosperity  instead  of  waiting  for  "  dead  men's  shoes."  It  is  a  subject  that 
the  present  state  of  the  roads  admonishes  one  should  be  agitated. 

Another  letter,  published  later  in  the  same  paper  (Sep- 
tember 2),  asserts  that  railroad  stock  will  be  much  below 
par  after  the  Milwaukee  &  Watertown  Plank  Road  has 
been  built.  The  plankroad  agitation  was  at  its  height  in 
1848.  "  Plankroads  are  the  railroads  of  the  people. "  "Turn- 
pikes and  macadams  have  each  had  their  day.  *  *  *  I 
would  as  soon  solicit  subscriptions  for  stock  in  a  road  to  the 
moon,  than  for  the  building  of  a  turnpike  or  macadam." 
"  Plankroad  meetings "  followed  one  another  in  rapid  suc- 
cession in  Beaver  Dam,  Watertown,  Fort  Atkinson,  and 
other  places.  Long  reports  of  these  meetings  fill  the 
newspapers,  and  letters  supporting  plankroads  are  often 
found  side  by  side  with  those  advocating  railroads. * 

1  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  January  6,  18, 19;  February  16,  18,  19,  22, 
28,  29;  March  21,  28,  31;  and  April  8,  1848.  The  Southport  Ameri- 
can (Kenosha),  of  November  4,  1843,  discusses  the  relative  merits  of 


1848.]  WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  221 

The  fact  that  farmers  could  use  their  own  vehicles 
on  plankroads,  was  a  great  advantage  over  railroads,  and 
leads  us  to  the  second  source  of  opposition  noted  above :  the 
monopolistic  nature  of  railroad  transportation.  One  of  the 
objections  raised  against  early  railway  projects  in  Prussia 

canals,  macadams,  and  railroads.  It  decides,  naturally,  in  favor  of  rail- 
roads, but  takes  pains  to  point  out  why  the  Southport  &  Beloit  route  would 
be  more  profitable  than  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  route.  Even  the 
editor  of  the  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  October  16,  1844,  could  momentarily 
so  far  forget  himself  as  to  say:  "Our  preference  *'*  *  would  be  in  favor 
of  a  good  McAdamized  road.  On  such  a  road  we  would  drive  a  borrowed 
fashionable  horse  Jehu  like."  See  also  Kenosha  Telegraph,  January  17, 
1851. 

The  subject  of  road-making  in  Wisconsin  is  too  large  to  be  attempted  in 
this  essay.  However,  in  connection  with  this  struggle  between  roads  and 
railroads,  it  is  interesting  to  take  notice  of  a  book  which  seems  to  have 
exerted  considerable  influence  on  the  public.  I  refer  to  A  Manual  of  the 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Road-Making,  comprising  the  Location, 
Construction,  and  Improvement  of  Roads,  (Common,  Macadam, 
Paved,  Planked  etc.)  and  Rail-Roads,  by  W.  M.  Gillespie,  A.  M.,  C.  E., 
professor  of  civil  engineering  in  Union  College.  This  book,  an  octavo  of 
three  hundred  and  seventy-two  pages,  had  reached  its  eighth  edition  in 
1855.  The  Milwaukee  Sentinel  and  Gazette  of  February  19,  1848,  has  an 
-editorial  on  it,  and  it  is  quoted  in  occasional  letters  (Ibid.,  January  9, 
1849)  on  the  subject  of  roads.  How  much  influence  the  book  really  had, 
I  shall  not  venture  to  state.  However,  it  seems  clear  that  some  of  the  ar- 
guments advanced  in  favor  of  plankroads  can  be  traced  to  this  source. 
Thus,  on  p.  249  we  read:  "Plank  roads  are  the  Farmer's  Railroads. 
He  profits  most  by  their  construction,  though  all  classes  of  the  community 
are  benefited  by  such  an  improvement.  *  *  *  The  peculiar  merit  of  plank 
roads  is,  that  the  great  diminution  of  friction  upon  them  makes  them  more 
akin  to  railroads  than  to  common  roads,  with  the  advantage  over  railroads, 
that  every  one  can  drive  his  wagon  upon  them."  Then,  after  pointing  out 
the  possibilities  of  carrying  products  to  the  market  at  all  times  and  during 
all  seasons,  and  the  consequent  rise  in  the  value  of  contiguous  farm  lands 
"  to  such  a  degree  as  to  excite  the  envy  and  complaints  of  those  living" 
away  from  them,  he  continues:  "  He  [the  farmer]  can  therefore  sell  cheaper, 
and  yet  gain  more.  The  consumer  of  his  produce,  wood,  etc.,  gets  a  better 
supply  of  all  articles,  and  at  lower  prices.  The  shopkeepers  carry  on  an 
active  trade  with  their  country  customers,  at  times  when,  were  it  not  for 
these  roads,  they  would  have  nothing  to  do.  It  is  one  of  those  few  busi- 
ness arrangements  by  which  all  parties  gain,  and  which,  therefore,  in  the 
words  of  Clinton,  actually  'augment  the  public  wealth.'  " 


222  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.         vo 

•was,  that  the  vehicles  used  on  the  chauss6e  could  not  be 
used  on  railroads,  and  both  Prussian  and  English  law  pro- 
vided for  the  running  of  cars  by  different  carriers  over  the 
same  track. 

The  following  pages  will  show  what  the  attitude  of  the 
public  was,  as  reflected  in  editorials,  letters,  and  addresses 
before  the  railroad  problem  had  become  a  practical  one  in 
Wisconsin. 

An  editorial  in  the  Milwaukee  Advertiser  of  September 
15,  1836,  contains  these  words :  "  *  *  *  nor  do  we  wish 
to  see  our  Legislature  rush  headlong  into  the  granting  of 
monopolies,  which,  however  innocent  they  might  be  at 
present,  would  in  the  end  embarrass  Wisconsin  in  her 
future  Internal  Improvement  operations,  and  paralyze  the 
efforts  of  her  people.  We  wish  to  see  the  utility  of  char- 
tered monopolies,  before  they  receive  our  sanction." 

In  our  national  history  this  was  the  period  of  wild  spec- 
ulation and  of  financial  disaster.  Jackson's  war  on  that 
"  most  hateful  of  all  monopolies, "  the  United  States  Bank, 
had  led  people  in  the  West  to  look  with  suspicion  upon  the 
appearance  of  similar  "  monsters. "  It  was  not  strange, 
therefore,  that  the  people  of  Wisconsin  should  have  sus- 
pected anything  which  was  reputed  to  be  a  "  monopoly. " 
Thus  E.  D.  Clinton,  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Milwaukee 
&  Mississippi  railroad,  in  a  letter  published  in  the  Sentinel 
and  Gazette,  June  8,  1849,  appeals  to  the  monopoly-hating 
farmers  as  follows: 

The  interests  of  farmers  have  always  been  subject  to  a  ruinous  monopoly; 
which  monopoly  as  used  by  the  capitalists,  has  always  been  diametrically 
opposed  to  the  ultimate  success  of  the  farmer.  No  one  will  for  a  moment 
contend  that  we  have  not  had  to  contend  with  this  monopoly;  and  yet  the 
farmers  of  the  country  are  those  who  hold  the  power  to  do  away  with  this 
burden  upon  their  energies.  *  *  *  The  design  of  this  railroad  is  ulti- 
mately to  benefit  the  farmers  of  the  country,  in  common  with  our  commer- 
cial interests;  and  how  is  this  to  be  effected?  The  farmer  owning  stock 
owns  also  a  share  in  each  depot  on  the  line,  and  the  person  who  has  the 
charge  of  the  depot  is  his  agent.  Now,  supposing,  your  agent  in  Milwau- 
kee telegraphs  to  any  agent  on  the  line  where  your  wheat  is  stored,  that 
wheat  buyers  will  give  so  much  for  a  boat  load  of  wheat;  the  cars  will  de- 


1 843.]  WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  223, 

posit  that  wheat  in  Milwaukee  in  six  hours  at  the  farthest,  from  the  time 
the  order  was  received.  Thus  you  will,  by  taking  stock  in  this  railroad, 
ruin  this  accursed  monopoly,  and  at  the  same  time  obtain  the  highest 
price  for  your  wheat  *  *  *  The  railroad  must  be  built,  and  it  remains 
for  you  to  say  whether  the  stock-holders  shall  consist  of  enterprising  farm- 
ers or  eastern  capitalists.  If  you  refuse  to  take  stock  there  is  no  alterna- 
tive —  eastern  capital  will  step  in  and  we  shall  forever  be  cursed  with 
monopolies  *  *  *  Let  every  farmer  who  has  the  interest  of  the 
farming  community  at  heart  step  in  ere  it  is  too  late. 

The  Fond  du  Lac  Journal 1  laments  that  the  Milwaukee  & 
Fond  du  Lac  railroad  bill  was  "sacrificed  upon  the  altar 
of  bloated  monopoly, "  and  speaking  of  corporations 2  the 
editor  says: 

They  have  always  found  some  way  of  squandering  the  funds,  despite  the 
checks  imposed  by  legislation;  and  what  has  rendered  their  operations 
doubly  criminal,  is  the  fact  that  instead  of  benefiting  the  public  in  the 
least  by  the  advancement  of  a  great  work,  the  funds  thus  entrusted  have 
been  absorbed  into  the  purses  of  two  or  three  individuals. 

Southwestern  Wisconsin  had  had  some  experiences  with 
"  monopolies."  By  1843 3  the  lead  trade  seems  to  have  been 
controlled  "  by  a  few  wealthy  houses  "  in  St.  Louis,  and 
there  existed  a  feeling  that  this  combination  had  succeeded 
in  keeping  down  the  price  of  lead.  Judging  by  extracts 
from  the  Potosi  Republican  given  in  the  Madison  Argus*  some 
agitation  was  carried  on  in  Grant  county  at  this  time. 
But  the  Argus  differs  from  the  opinions  of  the  Republican.6 
The  former  denies  that  railroads  are  detrimental  to  labor, 
to  teaming  interests,  to  tavern-keepers,  and  to  country  vil- 
lages. It  holds  that  corporations  are  evil  only  when  they 
are  chartered  to  do  that  which  "  ought  never  to  be  done 
by  anybody, "  or  that  which  should  never  have  been  made 
an  exclusive  privilege,  but  should  have  been  left  open  for 
anybody.  But  corporations  are  beneficial  when  they  do 

1  March  10,  1853. 

2  February  1,  1850. 

3  Grant  County  Herald,  April  8, 1843. 

4  October  12  and  November  2,  1847. 

*  It  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connection,  that  the  Argus  paid  much  at- 
tention to  political  economy,  and  published  numerous  essays  (translated> 
from  J.  B.  Say's  works. 


224  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

that  which  it  is  desirable  should  be  done,  but  which  indi- 
viduals could  not,  and  would  never  attempt  to  do.  This  is 
the  nature  of  a  railway  corporation. 

In  his  inaugural  address  of  April  12,  1848, l  Mayor  Byron 
Kilbourn,  of  Milwaukee,  one  of  the  main  spirits  in  the 
Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  railroad,  expressed  himself  as 
follows : 

There  is  in  the  minds  of  many  an  unaccountable  misapprehension  as  to 
-the  effect  of  railroads  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  country  through  which 
they  pass,  and  the  places  at  which  they  terminate.  Some  look  upon  them 
BS  a  monopoly,  for  the  sole  benefit  of  those  who  build  and  control  them. 
Others  admit  that  they  are  beneficial  to  the  country,  for  the  farming  in- 
terests, but  injurious  tq^the  business  towns  where  they  terminate.  While 
others  still,  claim  that  they  contribute  to  the  wealth  of  commercial  points 
where  they  terminate,  at  the  expense  of  the  whole  country,  and  especially 
to  the  destruction  of  inland  villages.  None  of  these  views  are  correct.  It 
may  be  laid  down  as  a  general  maxim,  that  whatever  facilitates  and  cheap- 
ens intercourse  among  men,  in  all  their  pursuits  of  business,  must  be  to 
each  and  to  all  beneficial.  It  is  beneficial  to  the  producer,  especially  to  the 
farmer  and  the  miner,  for  the  price  of  his  commodity  will  be  enhanced  in 
value,  to  the  same  extent  that  the  cost  of  transportation  is  diminished. 
To  the  consumer  it  is  beneficial  for  the  commodities  which  he  is  compelled 
.to  purchase  from  a  foreign  market,  come  to  him  charged  with  less  expense, 
-as  facilities  are  increased,  and  transportation  reduced.  These  propositions 
*  *  *  are  so  obvious  that  every  reflecting  mind  will  readily  embrace 
them. 

In  the  light  of*  utterances  like  these,  we  are  confronted 
with  the  question,  "  To  what  extent  did  such  hopes  and 
fears  as  to  the  nature  of  railroads,  find  expression  in  leg- 
islative enactments?"  The  answer  lies  in  a  subsequent 
section. 

3.  The  school  fund,  and  the  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal 
lands. 

In  this  section  we  shall  briefly  consider  the  attempt  made 
to  secure  a  railroad  loan  from  the  school  fund,  and  a  re- 
grant  of  the  canal  lands  to  a  railroad  company. 

In  the  second  constitutional  convention,  the  school  fund 
was  the  subject  of  bitter  debate.  It  was  stated  by  Mr. 

1  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  April  14,  1848. 


WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  225 

Lovell  that  a  school  fund  was  not  always  best  for  the 
schools;  and  the  experience  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island  was  quoted  in  support  of  this  statement.  Other 
members,  with  equal  emphasis,  denied  these  assertions. 
The  Madison  Argus,  March  3,  1849,  under  the  head  of  "  Gold, 
Free  Schools,  and  a  Railroad, "  says  that  the  proceeds  from 
the  sales  of  the  school  lands  will  be  more  than  sufficient 
41  to  build  and  put  into  operation  a  railroad  of  the  first  qual- 
ity from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi  river.  *  *  * 
In  what  way  can  the  fund  be  better  expended?  "  By  a 
plausible  array  of  figures,  the  editor  attempts  to  show  that 
the  traffic  of  such  a  road  would  be  sufficient  to  pay  ex- 
penses, to  keep  the  railroad  in  repair  and  to  keep  up 
schools  and  libraries  in  addition.  Such  a  road  would  en- 
able Wisconsin  to  reap  benefits  similar  to  those  which  New 
York  had  gained  from  the  Erie  Canal.  The  constitution- 
ality of  the  proposed  disposition  of  the  school  fund  could 
not  be  drawn  into  question,  because  the  constitution  ex- 
pressly provides  that  the  fund  shall  be  invested  in  the 
"most  profitable  manner."  And  what  could  be  more  profit- 
able than  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  railroad?  However, 
should  constitutional  objections  be  raised,  an  amendment 
granting  this  power  could  be  adopted. 

A  railroad  convention  held  in  Madison  in  January,  1850, l 
proposed  that  the  "  school  fund  should  be  loaned  to  the 
company  on  good  security. "  The  editor  of  the  Sentinel  and 
Gazette  wrote  a  long  editorial  favoring  the  plan,  and  as- 
serted that  the  western  papers  also  favored  it.2  There 
seems  to  have  been  good  reason  for  this  last  assertion,  for 
at  a  railroad  meeting  of  citizens  of  Grant  county  held  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  the  same  month,  a  long  series  of  resolu- 
tions was  adopted,  of  which  the  eighth  came  out  strongly 
in  favor  of  a  loan  of  the  school  fund.  It  is  clear  that  Mil- 
waukee interests  were  well  represented  at  this  meeting. 
The  Madison  correspondent  of  the  Prairie  du  Chien  Patriot 
asserted  that  various  "  mass  meetings "  which  favored  the 

1  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  January  24,  1850. 

2  Id.,  January  25,  30;  February  6,  26,  1850. 

15 


226  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

application  for  a  loan  out  of  the  school  fund,  had  been  man- 
aged by  the  railroad  people.  Their  representations  were 
so  fair  and  plausible  that  a  favorable  vote  was  easily  se- 
cured. Subsequent  developments  showed,  however,  that 
the  security  which  could  be  given  was  insufficient,  and  that 
consequently  the  support  of  the  schools  would  be  inade- 
quately provided  for.  "  It  would  be  easy, "  said  the  com- 
pany, "to  dispose  of  our  stock  to  foreign  capitalists,  but 
we  choose  to  have  the  road  built  by  home  capital,  and 
thereby  save  the  profits  for  home  use  and  consumption, 
rather  than  have  them  taken  off  to  other  states  *  *  *  at 
the  rate  *  *  *  of  half  a  million  per  annum,  as  is  the 
case  now  in  Michigan. " 

The  Potosi  Republican  l  supported  the  Milwaukee  plan : 
It  has  been  suggested  that  the  school  fund  be  loaned  for  this  purpose. 
*  *  *  The  constitution  provides  that  the  commissioners  shall  invest  all 
moneys  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  school  lands,  as  well  as  all  other  uni- 
versity and  school  funds,  in  such  a  manner  as  the  legislature  may  direct. 
A  safer  and  more  beneficial  investment  to  the  interest  of  the  State  than 
this,  could  not  be  made.  A  lien  upon  the  road  itself  will  be  sufficient  se- 
curity to  the  commissioners,  and  the  profits  arising  therefrom  cannot  fail 
to  more  than  exceed  the  interest  of  the  sum  loaned,  which  interest  is  all 
that  can  be  appropriated  for  the  benefit  of  the  schools. 

The  Potosi  editor  then  recommends  the  holding  of  public 
meetings  in  all  the  counties,  to  draw  up  the  proper  petitions 
to  the  legislature.  The  editor  of  the  Patriot  comments: 

The  suggestion  contained  in  the  above  article  is  a  good  one.  The  idea 
of  loaning  the  school  fund  of  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  a 
railroad  from  the  Lake  to  the  Mississippi,  was  long  since  entertained,  and 
we  believe  first  promulgated  by  a  prominent  citizen  of  our  village.  *  *  * 
The  loaning  of  the  school  fund  for  this  purpose  will  obviate  the  difficulty 
(of  getting  the  money).  *  *  *  It  will  afford  the  best  possible  investment 
of  this  fund.  Its  loaning  for  this  purpose  will  be  attended  with  less  trouble 
and  expense  than  in  any  other  manner,  and  therefore  the  amount  yearly 
accruing  to  the  use  of  our  schools  will  be  greater  than  otherwise.  Besides 
the  money  will  be  paid  for  labor  within  our  own  state  —  the  interest  will 
be  sure  without  any  danger  of  a  loss  of  the  capital. 

It  seems  now  as  if  the  exhortation  of  the  Grant  County 
Herald  of  three  years  before,  was  to  be  fulfilled,  and  that 

1  Quoted  in  Prairie  du  Chien  Patriot,  November  28, 1849. 


1850.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  227 

"  Sin  and  Death "  were  to  have  the  contract,  "  rather  than 
have  no  railroad  at  all." 

But  while  southern  Wisconsin  was  apparently  quite  ready 
to  enter  upon  such  a  raid  on  the  school  fund,  there  were 
unequivocal  signs  of  a  counter-current  from  the  north. 
Unfortunately  the  available  newspaper  material  from  that 
section  is  exceedingly  meagre;  but  there  is  enough  to  in- 
dicate in  which  direction  sentiment  was  drifting.  The  Fond 
du  Lac  Journal  of  February  1,  1850,  contains  the  following 
editorial : 

SCHOOL  FUND. —  That  a  desperate  attempt  will  be  made  to  swindle  the 
State  out  of  the  school  fund  is  getting  to  be  too  plain  a  matter  of  fact  to 
be  questioned;  new-fangled  projects  of  loaning  it  to  railroad  and  other  cor- 
porations are  being  daily  started,  and  each  scheme,  however  *  *  *  ex- 
travagant it  may  be,  finds  its  advocates.  The  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi 
R.  R.  Co.  coolly  demand  of  the  legislature  a  loan  of  only  a  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  preparatory  to  making  a  larger  haul.  *  *  *  The  people 
of  northern  Wisconsin  solemnly  protest  against  the  laying  of  vandal  and 
sacrilegious  hands,  by  the  incorporated  companies,  upon  the  school  fund 
held  sacred  and  set  apart  by  the  laws  of  the  State  for  the  education  of 
present  and  future  generations. 

The  Sheboygan  Democrat,1  discussing  the  fate  of  the  bill 
in  the  legislature,  says: 

The  prompt  manner  in  which  they  rejected  the  attempt  of  the  Milwau- 
kee speculators  to  sink  the  school  fund  in  a  railroad,  is  a  high  compliment 
to  their  firmness  and  integrity.  Every  effort  was  made  and  every  appli- 
ance was  brought  to  bear,  to  get  possession  of  this  sacred  fund,  and  direct 
it  from  its  legitimate  channel.  Byron  Kilbourn,  the  projector  of  a  canal 
that  never  was  made,  went  up  to  the  capitol  with  his  picked  men,  made 
speeches,  ate  oysters,  and  drank  beer,  and  as  history  informs  us,  they  re- 
turned with  their  fine  feathers  very  much  in  the  condition  of  a  peacock's 
after  a  rain.  We  wish  our  friends  of  Milwaukee  god-speed  in  every  laud- 
able enterprise  for  the  growth  and  improvement  of  their  town,  but  when 
they  seek  to  clog  up  the  fountain  of  learning  and  intelligence  to  increase 
their  wealth  and  power,  we  can  but  congratulate  them,  and  especially 
their  children,  in  their  failure. 

The  legislative  history  of  this  attack  on  the  school  fund 
must  next  occupy  our  attention.  A  memorial  of  the  direct- 
ors of  the  railroad,  addressed  to  the  senate  and  assembly, 
sets  forth  the  importance  of  the  railroad  project.  It  tries 

1  Quoted  in  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  February  26,  1850. 


228  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

to  make  it  clear  that  "  the  company  presents  no  features  of 
a  monopoly,  that  it  has  full  confidence  in  the  propriety  of 
such  a  loan,  which  would  benefit  alike  the  interests  of  the 
school  fund  and  of  the  State," — for  the  company  could 
produce  "  ample  data "  showing  that  the  "  nett  income  "  of 
the  railroad  would  be  above  14  per  cent  per  annum  —  and, 
finally,  the  conditions  under  which  the  loan  is  asked  are 
set  forth.1 

This  memorial  was  referred  to  a  select  committee  com- 
posed of  one  member  each  from  Walworth,  Grant,  and 
Dane  counties,  and  one  from  the  second  ward  of  Milwau- 
kee. There  were  standing  committees  on  education  and 
school  lands,  on  internal  improvements  and  on  roads, 
bridges,  and  ferries;  and  the  question  naturally  arises, 
Why  was  the  memorial  referred  to  a  select  committee 
rather  than  (say)  to  the  committee  on  school  lands  ?  This 
select  committee  submitted  a  report  of  some  length,  and 
reported  a  bill  authorizing  the  loan.  The  committee  pointed 
out  the  difficulties  involved  in  investing  three  millions  of 
school  money  on  the  plan  of  district  loans  and  as  "  the  re- 
sult of  its  reflections "  it  urges  "  the  relative  insecurity  of 
the  fund  and  its  liability  to  loss,  if  invested  according  to 
the  provisions  of  the  present  law."  Therefore,  feeling  a 
"strong  solicitude  for  the  complete  success  in  the  opera- 
tion of  the  school  fund,"  it  recommends  the  investment  of 
that  fund  in  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  railroad.  The 
bill  was  finally  defeated  by  a  vote  of  41  to  21. 

The  case  of  the  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal  lands 
throws  an  interesting  side-light  on  early  railroad  politics. 
The  lands  in  question  were  the  500,000  acres  granted  by  con- 
gress to  the  canal  company,  and  which  are  now  one  of  the 
sources  of  the  common  school  fund.  The  history  of  the  canal 
project  lies  outside  of  the  scope  of  this  essay.2  While  a  bare 

1  House  Journal,  Wis.  Legis.,  1850. 

2  For  a  history  of  the  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal,  consult  the  last 
chapter  of  Strong's  History  of  Wisconsin   Territory;  Lapham's  Mil- 
waukee &  Rock  River  Canal;  and  the  volume  of  pamphlets  on  that  sub- 
ject in  the  library  of  the  State  Historical  Society. 


1850.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  22Q 

beginning  was  made  in  building  it,  for  a  number  of  reasons 
the  project  was  soon  recognized  as  a  failure;  and  an  agitation 
was  begun  to  secure  its  land-grant  for  the  purpose  of 
building  the  railroad.  Byron  Kilbourn  was  the  active 
agent  in  securing  the  canal  grant,  he  was  president  of  the 
canal  company,  and  later  the  president  of  the  Milwaukee  & 
Mississippi  Railroad  Co.  In  other  words,  the  same  men  con- 
trolled both  the  canal  and  the  railroad.  But  the  canal  was 
a  failure.  The  railroad  must  supersede  it.  Therefore,  the 
directors  of  the  canal  company  petitioned  congress  for  a  re- 
grant  of  the  canal  lands  to  the  directors  of  the  railroad 
company :  "  As  a  mere  Company,  they  have  no  desire  for 
any  change ;  but  as  citizens,  the  members  of  the  company  wish 
to  see  public  interest  preserved,  which  we  doubt  not  it 
would  be  in  a  most  effective  manner  by  the  construction  of 
a  railroad. " l 

When  the  interests  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  are 
drawn  into  consideration,  the  petition  states  "that  the  grant  of 
land  was  obtained  through  the  sole  agency  of  the  Canal  Com- 
pany, without  any  aid  or  co-operation  whatever  on  the  part 
of  the  Territory, —  so  that  whatever  interest  the  Territory 
may  have  in  that  grant,  has  been  conferred  upon  it  as  a 
gratuity  through  the  unaided  exertions  of  the  Canal  Company. " 
Near  the  close  of  this  same  document  (p.  33),  the  petitioner 
asks :  "  Is  there  any  better  course  to  pursue,  than  so  to 
use  them  as  to  secure  the  construction  of  a  rail- road,  bind- 
ing together  the  great  inland  seas  of  our  continent  with  the 
father  of  waters,  with  an  iron  band;  and  by  means  of  the 
business  facilities  thus  secured,  binding  together  indissolu- 
bly  the  people  of  the  remote  sections  of  our  favored  Ter- 
ritory?"—  The  "promotion  of  the  interests  of  all"  was  in- 
scribed on  the  banners  of  all  projects,  even  during  Terri- 
torial days. 

Contemporaneous  utterances  in  the  press  appear  to  have 
been  quite  unanimously  in  favor  of  the  desired  change  in 

1  Communication  of  Byron  Kilbourn  to  the  house  of  representatives,  p.  17- 


230  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.      [vol.  xiv. 

the  land  grants.      Says  the  Sentinel  and  Gazette,   October 
23,  1841: 

The  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal  has  been  regarded  as  a  project  of 
great  importance,  and  is  one  which  has  received  the  favorable  considera- 
tion of  Congress  as  well  as  the  public  generally.  But  the  mere  connection  of 
Lake  Michigan  with  Rock  River  will  not  answer  the  end  for  which  the 
work  was  originated,  until  it  shall  be  continued  to  the  Mississippi;  and 
then  the  immense  expense  of  such  a  work  renders  its  construction  imprac- 
ticable, and  if  constructed,  that  it  should  pay  the  interest  upon  the  money 
expended.  While  a  Rail  Road,  besides  affording  every  facility  of  a  canal 
for  purposes  of  transportation  could  be  built  in  one  quarter  of  the  time, 
.and  would  be  available  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  a  canal  would  be 
locked  up  by  ice  nearly  half  the  time.  Another  consideration  in  favor  of  a 
Hail  Road  is  the  facilities  which  it  would  afford  for  the  transportation  of 
passengers,  the  United  States  mail,  the  munitions  of  war  to  the  frontier  in 
cases  of  difficulty  with  the  Indians.  In  every  point  of  view  a  Rail  Road 
would  be  superior  to  a  canal.  And  could  the  grant  of  land  for  the  Mil- 
waukee &  Rock  River  Canal  but  be  obtained  for  a  Rail  Road  *  *  *  it 
would  insure  a  connecting  link. 

Says  the  Madison  Argus,  December  5  and  15,  1844: 
A  canal  *  *  *  is  a  fine  affair  where  it  is  really  needed.  But  be- 
cause a  canal  connecting  navigable  waters  like  Lake  Erie  and  the  Atlantic 
ocean  has  paid  for  itself,  and  brought  the  state  a  large  revenue,  it  by  no 
means  follows  that  a  canal  connecting  Lake  Michigan  and  Rock  River 
would  be  equally  productive  in  proportion  to  cost.  A  canal  is  to  be  made 
from  Milwaukee  to  the  Rock  River  and  there  it  stops.  It  connects  at  the 
east  end  with  an  extensive  lake  coast,  and  so  far  it  is  very  well;  but  what 
is  there  at  Rock  River?  Neither  an  ocean,  nor  a  lake,  nor  even  a  navigable 
river.  There  are  neither  steam-boats  nor  flat-boats  running  on  Rock  River 
anywhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  proposed  termination  of  the  canal, 
and  the  river  will  not  admit  of  this  kind  of  navigation  to  any  advan- 
tage. *  *  *  The  business  of  the  territory  naturally  extends  east  and 
west,  and  any  attempt  to  turn  it  north  and  south  Into  the  channels  of  our 
shallow  river  must  be  an  up-stream  undertaking. 

These  were  valid  objections  to  the  canal  project,  which 
must  have  aided  in  gathering  support  for  the  railroad  land- 
grant  scheme.  The  Argus,  two  years  later,  when  there 
was  more  of  a  railroad  fever  prevalent,  and  canal  projects 
had  been  pushed  still  farther  into  the  background,  gives 
expression  to  a  feeling  of  the  inadequacy  of  canals  in 
language  more  vigorous  than  elegant.  The  subject  of  the 


1842-46.]       WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  231 

editorial  is  the  "  Erie  Canal, "  and  these  are  typical  expres- 
sions : 

But,  oh  ye  Yorkers!  Do  not  dream  that  your  old  canal,  4  feet  by  30, 
will  long  be  able  to  perform  the  labor  that  is  being  chalked  out  for  it. 
Could  you  see  the  everlasting  west,  and  imagine  the  quantities  of  hog 
and  hominy  which  it  will  jam  through  your  canal  on  its  way  to  the  Atlantic 
coast  and  so  on  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  you  would  sooner  think  that  it 
would  become  as  wide  and  deep  as  the  Hudson,  by  mere  dint  of  friction. 

The  west!  Why,  you  have  not  even  heard  from  a  quarter  of  it.  And 
then  the  Oregon  railroad  —  you  need  not  smile,  the  thing  will  be  done, — 
and  it  will  pass  through  Madison  by  the  way  —  and  the  trade  with  China 
and  all  that  part  of  creation  (which  is  part  of  the  west)  will  be  crammed 
into  your  little,  narrow,  pent  up  ditch.  It  would  never  do;  your  whole 
state  would  die  with  the  cholic. 

In  his  annual  message  of  December  10,  1841,  Governor 
Doty  rather  discouraged  the  Rock  River  Canal  project. 
He  thinks  it  would  have  been  of  greater  benefit  to  have 
granted  the  land  for  a  railroad,  and  recommends  the  build- 
ing of  "  A  Rail  or  Me Adamized  "  road  between  the  Lake 
and  the  Mississippi. 

The  Milwaukee  Courier1  contains  a  series  of  articles  by 
"Democrat,"  supporting  the  position  taken  by  the  governor 
in  his  message.  The  issue  of  February  9,  1842,  contains  a 
long  extract  from  an  Eastern  paper,  in  which  a  change  in 
the  terms  of  the  canal  grant  made  by  congress,  is  strongly 
urged ;  and  a  postscript  bo  the  same  letter  reads  as  follows : 

Your  territory  must  not  think  they  can  get  the  right  kind  of  men  to 
engage  in  building  a  Rail  Road  for  them  through  so  new  a  country  with- 
out at  least  giving  the  canal  lands  out  and  out  as  a  bonus.  *  *  *  They 
must  not  calculate  to  eat  their  bread  and  butter  and  keep  it  too. 

4.  Internal  improvements  in  the  constitutional  conventions. 
State  or  private  enterprise? 

The  struggle  over  the  subject  of  internal  improvements 
in  the  constitutional  conventions  of  Wisconsin,  was  but  a 
reflection  of  a  phase  of  the  larger  struggle  which  had  char- 
acterized our  national  history  during  the  preceding  decades. 

The  national  system  of  internal  improvements  was  in- 
augurated by  Jefferson,  in  1806,  in  the  Cumberland  Road 

1  December  15,  1841;  January  12,  1842;  and  February  2,  1842. 


232  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.xiv. 

bill.     Under  the  influence  of  growing  nationalism  it  was 
vigorously  discussed  and  temporarily  checked  in  the  Bonus 
bill  of  1816-17.     The  constitutional  phase  of  the  discussion 
received  a  hopeful  impulse  towards  a  solution,  in  the  at- 
tempt to  separate  the  questions  of  constitutionality  and  of 
expediency,  in  the  long  debates  of  1818-19.     The  failure  of 
the  Cumberland  Road  bill  of  1822,  and  President  Monroe's 
scholarly  letter,   drew  into  question,  with  renewed  vigor, 
the  constitutionality  of  the   system.     All  the  old  ground 
was  torn  up,  and  no  phase  of  the  question  left  untouched, 
in  the  protracted  debates  of  1824.     During  the  administra- 
tion of  J.  Q.  Adams,  the  idea  of  a  system  of  internal  im- 
provements was  once  more  brought  prominently  before  the 
public,  and  in  the  Maysville  Road  veto  (1830),  :Ait  received 
its  death-blow  at  the  hands  of  Jackson.     This  marks  the 
downfall  of  a  national  system  of  internal  improvements. 
While  the  national  government  still  continues  to  make  ap- 
propriations, all  hopes  of  establishing  a  system  of  inter- 
nal improvements  by    direct   federal  agency, —  and   from 
which  the  federal  government  might  derive  a  revenue, — 
were  abandoned  in  1830.     Jackson's  determination  to  free 
the  nation  from  debt,  and  to  adhere  to  principles  of  strict 
economy,   and  his  uncompromising  hostility  to  corporate 
"  monsters, "   were  the  forces  which   dealt  the  fatal  blow. 
The  new  democracy,  whose  banner  Jackson  had  hoisted, 
adopted  politics  of  great  geographical  dimensions.    Expan- 
sion was   its  war-cry.     The  schemes  which  were  born  in 
this  atmosphere  bore  on  them  the  stamp  of  the  wide  plains 
stretching  far  beyond  the  dim  horizon,  and  of  the  great 
streams  and  forests  which  the  new-born  "nation  "  possessed. 
The  geography  of  the  country  had  become  the  main-spring 
of  the  human  mind. 

The  argument,  in  brief,  was  this:  Internal  improve- 
ments are  a  necessity.  The  federal  government  cannot  un- 
dertake them.  Therefore,  since  something  must  be  done, 
the  States  must  impose  upon  themselves  this  important 
duty.  The  increasing  activity  of  the  States  in  undertak- 
ing works  of  internal  improvement,  was  a  characteristic 


1830-37-]        WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  233 

of  the  period  from  1830  to  1837.  The  unparalleled  success 
of  the  Erie  Canal  was  something  which  every  State  thought 
itself  capable  of  repeating  in  its  own  projects.  We  need 
but  recall  Jackson's  war  on  the  United  States  Bank,  the  pet 
banks,  paper  money,  land  bills,  the  distribution  of  the  sur- 
plus, and  the  specie  circulars ,  in  order  to  bring  vividly  be- 
fore us  the  sequences  of  the  internal  improvements  and 
general  speculative  mania.  We  are  told  that  the  Michigan 
legislature  had  "  projected  one  mile  of  improvement  for 
every  150  of  the  inhabitants,  which,  upon  common  aver- 
ages, gives  one  mile  for  every  thirty  votes, "  and  that  the 
States  had  contracted  an  indebtedness  of  $200,000,000  "un- 
secured by  any  property  adequate  to  the  support  of  such  a 
burden. " l  The  atmosphere  which  had  once  been  the  nursery 
of  gigantic  projects  had  now  become  close  and  oppressive, 
not  only  to  citizens  of  our  own  country,  but  to  foreigners  who 
had  sunk  many  a  fine  sovereign  in  the  credit  of  the  States. 

The  country  now  entered  upon  a  period  of  State  repudia- 
tion, national  discredit,  and  the  agitation  of  federal  assump- 
tion.2 The  State  governments  had  tried  to  do  what  was 
abandoned  by  the  federal  government  in  1830,  and  in  the 
attempt  had  fallen  into  disrepute.  The  pressure  for  im- 
provements became  stronger  as  the  country  developed. 
Their  construction  had  been  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
federal  government.  The  State  governments  had  failed. 
And  now  there  was  but  one  alternative  —  not  to  build  them 
at  all,  or  to  leave  internal  improvements  to  private 
corporations.  The  latter  policy  was  chosen.  Jackson's 
14  monster  "  had  now  gained  the  ascendency.  The  period 
following  1837  marks  the  decline  of  the  States  as  economic 
agents,  and  the  rise  of  private  corporations.  It  is  into  this 
period  that  the  constitutional  conventions  of  Wisconsin 
fall,  and  they  must  be  studied  in  the  light  of  the  events 
just  outlined. 

The  first  constitutional  convention  met  in  Madison  on 

1 H.  C.  Adams's  Public  Debts  (N.  Y.,  1887),  p.  336. 
2  Scott's  Repudiation  of  State  Debts  (N.  Y.,  1893)  gives  an  excellent 
account  of  this  phase  of  our  history. 


234  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS. 

October  5,  1846.  Together  with  other  subjects  internal 
improvements  was  referred  to  a  select  committee.1  As 
first  introduced,  the  article  was  much  more  restricted  in 
scope,  merely  stating  that  internal  improvements  should 
forever  be  encouraged  by  the  government  of  the  State,  and 
providing  that  the  legislature  should  in  no  case  create  or 
incur  a  State  debt  for  internal  improvements  without  at 
the  same  time  providing  means  for  the  payment  of  the  in- 
terest thereof,  and  for  its  final  liquidation.  The  select  com- 
mittee was  then  discharged,  and  the  article  on  improve- 
ments, together  with  that  on  taxation,  was  referred  to  an- 
other committee.  Unfortunately  neither  the  journal  of  the 
convention,  nor  the  Madison  Argus,  which  gives  by  far 
the  best  report  of  the  convention,  contains  any  significant 
statements  made  in  discussing  the  article.  A  resolution,2 
evidently  modeled  on  the  national  distribution  scheme, 
was  introduced  by  the  member  from  Sheboygan,  but  failed 
to  pass.  It  reads  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  the  following  be  inserted  as  an  article  or  section  in  the 
constitution  of  this  State:  That  all  moneys  arising  from  the  sale  of  public 
lands  which  have  or  may  be  given  to  this  state  for  the  purpose  of  internal 
improvement,  except  such  as  are  given  for  a  specific  purpose,  and  the  five 
per  centum  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  public  lands,  shall  be  apportioned  by 
the  legislature  among  the  several  counties  in  this  State  in  the  following 
manner  and  no  other:  One-half  thereof  shall  be  distributed  among  the 
several  counties  giving  each  county  an  equal  sum;  the  other  half  to  be  dis- 
tributed among  the  several  counties  in  proportion  to  the  population  therein, 
to  be  ascertained  by  the  census  last  taken  before  such  distribution,  the 
moneys  to  be  used  by  each  county  for  internal  improvements  therein,  in 
such  manner  as  the  inhabitants  may  direct. 

The  journal  gives  no  further  information.  Articles  xii 
and  xiii  were  finally  reported  as  follows: 

ARTICLE  XII.      ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS. 

Section  1.  This  State  shall  encourage  internal  improvements  by  in- 
dividuals, associations,  and  incorporations,  but  shall  not  carry  on,  or  be  a 
party  in  carrying  on,  any  work  of  internal  improvement,  except  in  cases 
authorized  by  the  second  section  of  this. 

1  Journal  of  the  Convention.    See  Baker's  "  Bibliography  of  the  Wis- 
consin Constitutional  Conventions,"  Wis.  Hist.  Soc.  Proe.,  1897. 

2  Journal,  p.  166. 


1846.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD    LEGISLATION.  235 

Section  2.  When  grants  of  land  or  other  property  shall  have  been  made 
to  the  State,  specially  dedicated  by  the  grant  to  particular  works  of  inter- 
nal improvement,  the  State  may  carry  on  such  particular  works,  and  shall 
donate  thereto  the  avails  of  such  grants  so  dedicated  thereto;  but  shall  in 
no  case  pledge  the  faith  or  credit  of  the  State,  or  incur  any  debt  or  lia- 
bility for  such  work  of  internal  improvement. 

Section  3.  All  lands  which  shall  come  to  the  State  by  forfeiture  or  es- 
cheat, or  by  grant,  where  the  grant  does  not  specially  dedicate  the  same 
to  any  other  object  shall  be  held  by  the  State  as  a  part  of  the  State  school 
fund,  under  the  same  trusts,  reservations,  and  restrictions  as  are  provided 
in  this  constitution  in  regard  to  school  land  proper. 

ARTICLE  XIII.      ON   TAXATION,    FINANCE   AND  PUBLIC  DEBTS. 

Section  3.  The  credit  of  the  State  shall  never  be  given  or  loaned  in  aid 
of  any  individual,  association,  or  corporation. 

To  what  extent  the  provisions  of  article  xii  contributed 
to  the  defeat  of  the  constitution  of  1846,  is  difficult  to  de- 
termine. The  press  certainly  aimed  its  hostility  much 
more  against  the  articles  on  banks  and  banking,  and  on 
the  rights  of  married  women.  However,  a  letter  quoted 
from  the  Milwaukee  Courier  and  published  in  the  Pond  du 
Lac  Whig  of  March  18,  1846,  shows  that  article  xii  was  one 
of  the  causes  of  a  division : 

"  $60, 000  LOST  !"  [The  act  of  congress]  donates  five  percent  of  the 
sale  of  public  lands  "  for  making  public  roads  and  canals  *  *  *  as  the 
legislature  may  direct."  Now,  no  particular  grants  are  specified  in  the 
act,  yet  the  proposed  constitution  prohibits  all  such  works,  except  when 
grants  of  land  or  other  property  shall  have  been  made  to  the  state,  espe- 
cially dedicated  by  the  grant  to  particular  works  of  internal  improvements. 
It  is  plain  that  by  the  act  of  congress  there  is  no  ''dedication  "  of  the 
money  to  a  particular  work.  If  so,  what  work  is  it?  The  Sheboygan  & 
Fond  du  Lac  R.  R.  Co.?  or  the  Mississippi  &  Lake  Erie  Navigation  Co.? 
or  the  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal?  No,  manifestly  nothing  of  the 
kind.  And  it  is  equally  plain,  that  unless  the  act  does  especially  dedicate 
the  money  to  particular  works,  should  the  constitution  be  adopted,  we  lose 
the  whole!  *  *  *  What  say  the  people  to  this?  *  *  *  Sixty  thou- 
sand a  year  LOST,  provided  the  constitution  is  adopted. 

Apparently  the  editor  of  the  Whig  approves  these  senti- 
ments, for  in  the  issue  of  January  21,  1846,  he  expresses 
his  dislike  for  the  constitution,  on  account  of  the  provis- 
ions of  article  xii. 


236  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

The  Journal  and  Debates  of  the  Convention  of  1847-48  con- 
tains a  much  better  account  of  this  part  of  the  proceedings 
than  the  Journal  of  the  first  convention.  When  article  xii, 
on  internal  improvements,  was  reported  to  this  convention 
exactly  as  it  had  passed  the  first  convention,  Lovell  of 
Racine  moved  the  following  amendment  to  stand  as  section 
3  of  article  xii: 

The  five  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  granted  by  the  United  States 
for  purposes  of  internal  improvements,  or  the  avails  thereof,  shall  con- 
stitute a  perpetual  fund,  and  the  interest  thereof,  together  with  the  five 
per  cent  of  the  nett  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands  granted  by  the 
United  States,  for  a  like  purpose  shall  be  Annually  appropriated  to  the 
construction  and  repair  of  roads  and  bridges  in  the  several  counties  of  the 
state  in  proportion  to  their  population,  under  the  direction  of  the  board  of 
supervisors  thereof.  Provided  that  the  legislature  may  at  any  time  by 
law  apply  such  interest  and  five  per  cent  to  other  works  of  internal  im- 
provements; but  no  such  law  shall  be  valid  unless  it  be  for  some  single 
work  or  object,  and  be  so  submitted  to  the  people  at  the  next  general  elec- 
tion after  its  passage,  and  approved  by  a  majority  of  the  qualified  .electors 
voting  at  such  elections. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  distribution  scheme  differs  in 
several  particulars  from  that  offered  to  the  first  convention. 
First,  the  basis  of  distribution  is  population,  whereas  in 
the  first  it  was  a  compromise  between  population  and  area; 
second,  it  designates  the  agent  under  whose  direction  the 
sums  distributed  shall  be  expended  (the  first  mentioned  no 
such  agent);  third,  it  specifies  certain  works  of  internal 
improvements  (the  first  is  general);  fourth,  it  reserves  to 
the  State,  under  certain  conditions,  the  right  to  engage  in 
works  of  internal  improvements. 

Harvey,  of  Rock  county,  looked  upon  this  plan  with  ap- 
prehension. He  regarded  it  as  dangerous;  the  revenues 
thus  accruing  would  be  scattered  over  so  wide  a  surface, 
and  pass  so  many  diverse  agencies  in  their  disbursement, 
that  they  would  be  "  wasted  and  frittered  away ; "  in  its 
practical  operations,  the  plan  would  place  this  immense 
fund  where  it  would  be  most  likely  to  form  a  part  of  a 
system  of  political  favoritism;  the  friends  of  the  amend- 
ment were  fond  of  calling  it  the  land  distribution  fund,  but 
they  were  in  fact  making  it  a  bribery  fund,  to  be  used  to- 


i847~48.]     WISCONSIN  RAILROAD  LEGISLATION.  237 

favor  the  interests  of  party  and  politicians,  and  fill  the 
pockets  of  individuals,  without  substantial  benefits  to  the 
people  at  large. 

Another  member  (Chase,  of  Fond  du  Lac)  "  was  confident 
that  two-thirds  of  the  people  were  opposed  to  every  such 
proposition,"  and  that  we  should  be  burdened  with  higb- 
salaried  disbursing  agents  to  superintend  public  works. 

Another  (Root,  of  Waukesha)  objected  to  the  measure 
because,  if  there  were  a  fund  for  the  construction  of  roads, 
people  would  "  become  careless  in  working  them,  and  rely 
wholly  on  that  fund. " 

Byron  Kilbourn  wanted  the  fund  for  the  support  of  pub  - 
lie  schools,  and  advanced  the  usual  arguments  in  favor  of 
education.  Besides,  such  a  system  of  distribution  was  in- 
adequate for  undertaking  larger  works,  such  as  the  Mil- 
waukee &  Mississippi  railroad,  which  it  would  require 
twenty  years  to  build  under  this  plan.  He  said  also  that 
for  thirty  years  of  his  life  he  had  seen  frittered  away  in 
Ohio  a  fund  derived  from  similar  sources  and  appropriated 
in  a  similar  way.  This  speech  of  Kilbourn  marks  an  in- 
teresting phase  of  early  railroad  politics.  In  a  previous 
section,1  we  saw  under  guise  of  what  arguments  Kilbourn 
and  his  associates  sought  to  secure  a  change  in  the  grant 
of  the  canal  lands;  we  saw  how  the  same  men  attempted 
to  get  a  loan  of  the  school  fund.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
Kilbourn 's  speech  in  the  convention,  in  which  he  favored 
the  retention  of  the  lands  and  proceeds  in  the  school  fund, 
was  made  just  two  years  before  the  legislative  raid  upon 
that  fund. 

Fox,  of  Dane  county,  said  that  he  would  not  make  a  long 
speech  about  the  prosperity  of  New  York  or  the  troubles 
of  Michigan  because  of  their  internal  improvements.  If 
other  States  had  been  imprudent  or  unfortunate  in  carry- 
ing out  systems  of  internal  improvements,  it  was  no  rea- 
son for  prohibiting  them  among  us.  Their  experience 
should  simply  caution  us.  These  improvements  were  to  de- 

1  Ante,  p.  22±. 


238  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

velop  the  resources  of  the  State,  and  it  was  not  wise  to 
put  them  out  of  the  State's  power.  The  misfortunes  of 
other  States  had  prejudiced  the  people  against  any  system 
of  the  kind  at  the  present,  and  this  might  be  proper;  at 
all  events,  it  would  afford  a  guarantee  that  they  would  not 
sanction  by  their  votes  any  scheme  which  might  be  pro- 
posed to  them,  unless  it  were  a  proper  one.  He  merely 
wished  to  give  the  legislature  power  to  submit  a  law  to  the 
people.  It  was  proper  to  do  this  at  any  time;  it  was  right 
to  make  the  improvement  whenever  the  people  were  in 
favor  of  it,  and  were  willing  to  tax  themselves  for  that 
purpose. 

The  amendment,  standing  as  section  2  of  article  xii,  was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  23  to  14,  whereupon  Martin,  president 
of  the  convention, — this  was  still  in  committee  of  the 
whole, — offered  another  amendment  to  the  effect  that  when 
a  donation  had  been  made  for  any  particular  improvement, 
and  was  not  sufficient  for  that  purpose,  the  State  might 
"  pledge  or  appropriate  the  revenues  to  be  derived  from 
such  work,  towards  its  completion."  This  was  avowedly 
based  on  the  experience  of  Michigan  with  the  Central  Rail- 
road. The  amendment  was  likewise  adopted  by  the  com- 
mittee —  both  of  these  amendments  applied  to  section  3  of 
article  xii.  Section  2  had  likewise  been  amended  and  re- 
ported back  to  the  convention  as  follows: 

The  legislature  shall  have  power  at  any  regular  session,  to  pass  a  law  au- 
thorizing a  work  of  internal  improvement.  Such  law  shall  embrace  but 
one  work  or  object  of  improvement,  which  shall  be  distinctly  specified 
therein,  and  have  but  two  points  of  termination.  And  such  law  shall  pro- 
vide for  levying  a  tax  sufficient,  with  other  sources  of  revenue,  to  complete 

said  work  within years  after  the  passage  of  the  same.    And  no  such 

law  shall  be  valid  or  take  effect  unless  the  same  shall  have  been  submitted 
to  a  separate  and  distinct  vote  of  the  electors  at  the  next  general  election 
succeeding  the  passage  of  said  law,  and  shall  have  received  in  its  favor  a 
majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  at  such  election  on  that  subject. 

It  was  thought  that  the  adoption  of  this  amendment,  and 
its  incorporation  in  article  -xii  of  the  constitution,  would 
make  it  possible  for  the  State  to  improve  the  Rock  River 
and  to  build  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railroad.  The 


1847-48.]       WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  239 

arguments  in  opposition  deserve  a  little  more  attention  in 
detail.  It  was  urged  that  the  attempt  to  carry  out  the 
proposed  provision  of  our  constitution  would  plunge  the 
State  "  into  the  gulf  of  internal  improvements  "  which  had 
swallowed  up  the  credit  and  prosperity  of  so  many  of  our 
sister  States.  "The  State  is  not  the  proper  person  or  the 
proper  party  to  carry  on  that  system;"  nor  is  it  a  legiti- 
mate function  of  the  State  government,  because  of  its  un- 
equal benefits  to  the  whole  people.  Again,  it  was  asserted 
that  the  State  could  not  carry  on  such  works  in  as  econom- 
ical a  manner  as  private  individuals  or  corporations ;  that 
the  actual  cost  of  legislation  during  the  progress  of  the 
work,  was  always  a  large  item  in  the  total  costs  of  such 
improvements,  as  in  case  of  the  cost  of  Territorial  legis- 
lation on  the  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal,  which  had 
far  exceeded  the  amount  actually  expended  on  the  work;, 
and  that  as  soon  as  a  State  government  was  formed,  the 
State  would  plunge  into  such  works  and  become  bankrupt 
like  most  of  the  northern  States.  Besides  being  a  source 
of  expense,  such  legislation  often  engendered  bitter  sec- 
tional feelings,  as  in  the  case  of  New  York.  The  provision 
prohibiting  these  works  by  the  State,  in  the  last  constitu- 
tion, gave  unusual  satisfaction  to  the  people,  and  had  often 
been  pointed  out  as  one  of  the  strongest  reasons  for  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1846.  It  was  feared  that  a 
majority,  combining  the  interests  of  the  most  populous 
parts  of  the  State,  might  impose  heavy  burdens  upon  a 
large  minority. 

A  vote  being  taken,  this  section  was  adopted  by  a  ma- 
jority of  one.  An  analysis  of  the  vote  reveals  no  striking 
sectional  grouping.  Milwaukee  was  divided  in  favor,  4  to  3 ; 
Rock,  which  might  have  been  expected  to  be  unanimously 
in  favor,  voted  in  the  negative,  4  to  1 ;  the  five  votes  cast 
by  Racine  (including  Kenosha?)  were  in  the  negative,  while 
Grant  voted  in  favor,  4  to  1 ;  Lafayette  and  Green  cast  two 
each  in  favor ;  Jefferson,  3  to  1 ;  Waukesha,  2  to  1 ;  Dane, 
2  to  1 ;  Wai  worth,  3  to  2  in  favor.  Were  it  not  for  the  vote 
of  Rock  county,  we  might  suppose  that  the  prospects  of 


24O  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railroad  decided  the  votes  of 
the  counties  lying  along  the  route;  but  it  is  probable  that 
the  disasters  of  neighboring  States  were  the  controlling 
factors.  Taking  the  votes  of  all  the  counties  lying  south  of 
the  northern  boundary  line  of  Dane,  the  result  stood  23  to  19 
in  favor,  which  clearly  indicates  that  the  hope  of  direct  State 
aid  did  not  at  that  time  control  southern  Wisconsin.  It  is 
possible  that  the  personal  influence  of  those  who  had  a 
direct  interest  in  the  organized  canal  and  railroad  com- 
panies, had  considerable  influence  in  increasing  the  nega- 
tive vote.  At  this  point,  the  journal  of  the  convention 
leaves  the  history  of  article  xii  in  the  dark.  The  article1 
was  referred  to  the  committee  on  revision  and  arrangement, 
which  reported  it  for  final  passage  and  incorporation  into 
the  constitution  as  section  10  of  article  viii,  on  finance, 
as  follows: 

SECTION  X.      INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENTS. 

The  State  shall  never  contract  any  debt  for  works  of  internal  improve- 
ment, or  be  a  party  in  carrying  on  such  works;  but  whenever  grants  of  land 
or  other  property  shall  have  been  made  to  the  state,  especially  dedicated 
by  the  grant  to  particular  works  of  internal  improvement,  the  state  may 
carry  on  such  particular  works,  and  shall  devote  the  avails  of  such  grants, 
and  may  pledge  or  appropriate  the  revenue  derived  from  such  works,  in 
aid  of  their  completion. 

Now,  by  the  rules  of  the  convention,  every  article  was  to 
be  referred  to  the  committee  on  revision  and  arrangement, 
after  its  third  reading  and  passage  (p.  7  of  the  rules),  "  who 
shall  report  to  the  convention  all  such  verbal  amendments 
as  they  shall  deem  expedient,  not  changing  in  any  manner 
the  substance  of  such  article."  The  convention  adopted 
the  article  as  amended  (above)  by  the  decisive  vote  of  50  to 
15 ;  and  as  adopted,  without  pointing  out  many  other  differ- 
ences, it  reserved  to  the  State  the  right,  under  certain  con- 

1 A  member  from  Racine  (Sanders)  introduced  a  very  comprehensive 
amendment  to  article  xii,  embracing  nine  sections.  However,  a  discus- 
sion of  it  would  throw  no  light  on  the  problem  before  us.  See  Journal, 
p.  351. 


1847-48.]        WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  24! 

xlitions,  to  engage  in  works  of  internal  improvement.1  The 
article  as  reported  from  the  committee  on  revision,  and  as 
it  stands  to-day  in  the  constitution,  prohibits  the  State  from 
entering  upon  such  works  except  in  case  of  special  grants. 
At  this  point  the  question  naturally  arises,  by  what  author- 
ity and  in  what  manner  was  such  a  fundamental  change 
made  in  article  xii?  The  functions  of  the  committee  on 
revision  were  restricted  to  "  verbal  amendments. "  A  major- 
ity vote  of  the  convention  could,  under  the  rules,  still 
make  any  change  desirable.  But  the  great  change  in  arti- 
cle xii  was  apparently  made  in  the  committee;  and,  as 
reported  thereby,  the  article  was  adopted  by  the  conven- 
tion without  debate,  at  least  so  far  as  the  evidence  of  the 
journal  goes.  It  will  be  remembered  that  section  2,  as 
amended,  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  but  one,  showing 
that  there  was  strong  opposition  to  reserving  to  the 
State  the  internal  improvement  power.  In  contrast  to 
this  vote  stands  the  vote  on  the  passage  of  the  article,  50 
to  15.  Is  it  not  probable  that  the  opposition  voted  in  favor 
of  the  article  on  its  final  passage,  in  order  to  manipulate 
it  to  their  own  satisfaction  in  the  committee  on  revision? 
Let  us  examine  the  personelle  of  that  committee.  In  the  first 
place,  its  members  were  not  appointed  until  after  there  had 
been  taken  the  close  vote  of  30  to  29,  on  section  2.  It  was , 
however,  appointed  on  the  same  day,  and  immediately  before 
the  vote  was  taken  on  the  passage  of  article  xii.  As  ap- 
pointed, the  committee  consisted  of  Dunn,  King,  Larrabee, 
Whiton,  and  Lovell.  On  the  vote  on  section  2,  Dunn  was  ab- 
sent or  did  not  vote ;  King  voted  aye,  and  the  other  three 
members  no.  Dunn  had  never,  in  the  convention,  expressed 
himself  on  internal  improvements;  King  had  spoken  brie  fly 
in  favor  of  retaining  the  right  to  the  State;  Larrabee  and 


1  Following  is  an  analy 

Yea.  No. 
Brown  0       1 
Calumet    1       0 

sis  of  the  vote 

Green  ... 

by  counties 

Yea.  No. 
1      0 

n 

Sheboygan  
Manitowoc  
Walworth  
Washington  .... 
Waukesha  
St  Croix 

Yea. 

\  " 

.     5 
.    3 
.     5 
1 

No. 
0 

0 
0 

1 
0 

1 

Iowa 

2       1 

Crawford  )     1        n 
Chippewa  f 
Columbia  1       0 

Jefferson  

.    3       1 

La  Fayette 

3       0 

Marquette  
Winnebago  .  .  . 
Milwaukee 

:•]  o   i 

5       2 

Dane.                        1       2 

Dodge  3(2?)0 

Portage.. 

o 

Fond  du  Lac  ....    2       0 
Grant  K?)  3(?) 

Racine  .  .  . 

....     5       2 

Roo.k- 

4       0 

16 

242  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

Whiton  both  had  spoken  against  it;  and  Lovell  "believed 
that  the  more  humble  and  old-fashioned  means  of  trans- 
portation were  more  generally  useful" —  in  accordance  with 
these  views  he  advocated  the  distribution  scheme  favoring 
"roads  and  bridges,"  which  we  have  previously  noticed. 
The  committee  stood,  then,  as  follows :  three  opposed  State 
undertakings,  one  had  not  committed  himself,  and  one 
favored  it.  But  in  the  vote  on  the  passage  of  article  xiir 
and  immediately  before  it  was  referred  to  the  committee  on 
revision,  all  but  Lovell  voted  in  favor  of  the  article.  Then 
when  these  gentlemen  reported  it  back  to  the  convention,, 
they  had  reversed  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  article, 
in  direct  violation  of  the  rules  of  the  convention.  It  is 
probable  that  it  escaped  the  attention  of  those  members- 
of  the  convention  who  had  opposed  its  present  contents  in 
previous  debates,  because  it  was  reported  as  a  part  of  the 
article  on  finance,  and  at  the  same  time  with  the  articles 
on  militia  and  eminent  domain. 

Without  entering  upon  a  discussion  of  the  controverted 
question  of  State  or  private  roads,  this  presentation  would 
be  incomplete  without  devoting  some  space  to  contempora- 
neous utterances  on  this  question.  The  Madison  Argus  of 
December  23,  1845,  contains  the  following  in  an  editorial; 

We  do  not  hesitate  to  express  our  opinion  that  a  chartered  company 
would  be  preferable  to  having  it  undertaken  by  Territory  or  State.  We  are 
all  aware  of  the  anti-republican  tendencies  of  all  chartered  associations  of 
wealth,  and  are  opposed  to  everything  of  the  kind,  except  in  cases  where 
an  association  of  wealth  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  accomplishment  of 
some  object  of  great  and  obvious  public  utility.  The  construction  of  a 
railroad  is  an  object  of  this  kind.  For  a  State  to  construct,  control  and 
manage  a  work  of  this  kind,  with  profit  to  itself  or  advantage  to  the  peo- 
ple, we  believe  to  be  entirely  out  of  the  question.  In  matters  of  economy, 
governments  are  always  miserable  bunglers,  and  a  government  railroad 
would  be  about  as  profitable  as  a  government  saw-mill. 

The  same  objections  do  not  lie  against  a  railroad  charter  which  may  be 
urged  against  many  other  kinds  of  charters  which  might  be  named,  be- 
cause: 1.  the  aristocratic  tendency  of  associated  wealth  in  the  company,  is 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  tendency  of  the  work  to  secure  an  equal 
distribution  of  wealth  throughout  the  State,  and  this  more  than  any  one 
principle  in  social  economy  tends  to  keep  up  and  perpetuate  republican 


I845-47-]       WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  243 

equality.  *  *  *  With  a  railroad  through  the  Territory,  farms  in  the 
middle  counties  would  be  almost  as  valuable  as  any  in  the  Territory,  and 
goods  could  be  afforded  in  the  interior  towns  nearly  or  quite  as  cheap  as  in 
Milwaukee.  2.  There  is  scarcely  any  chance  under  a  railroad  char- 
ter, for  peculations  and  frauds  upon  the  public.  If  they  charge  ex- 
orbitantly for  freight,  the  highway  is  before  us.  Travelling  fare 
will  be  kept  within  reasonable  limits  by  the  competition  of  stage 
coaches.  They  may  run  off  from  the  track  now  and  then,  but  they  can- 
not very  conveniently  run  off  with  the  track.  *  *  *  Still  there  are 
prejudices  existing  in  the  minds  of  many  in  the  interior  against  railroads 
under  any  circumstances,  arising  from  an  impression  that  a  railroad  only 
benefits  the  towns  at  the  termini. 

The  same  paper1  contains  an  entire  column  on  the  con- 
stitutional principles  of  internal  improvements.  The  ground 
is  taken  that  the  time  may  have  been,  and  may  come  again, 
when  the  State  should  undertake  the  building  of  railroads. 
Thus,  New  York  rightly  built  the  Erie  Canal.  But  when 
many  states,  especially  new  ones,  imitated  New  York,  dis- 
aster was  the  result.  At  the  present  time  internal  improve- 
ments should  be  undertaken  by  private  capitalists,  because : 
1.  Only  such  routes  will  be  chosen  as  will  prove  advan- 
tageous to  the  public.  2.  Private  capitalists  will  build  at 
much  less  expense. 

The  Potosi  Republican*  takes  issue  with  the  Argus.  It 
holds  that  the  State  should  undertake  internal  improve- 
ments, paying  for  them  as  fast  as  undertaken,  and  provid- 
ing funds  by  direct  taxation.  A  constitutional  amendment 
should  prohibit  the  State  from  going  into  debt  for  such 
purposes.  Then  only  such  works  will  be  undertaken  as 
the  "  public  exigencies  require. " 

The  Fond  du  Lac  Whig  of  January  21,  1847,  speaking  of 
the  Fox  &  Wisconsin  improvements,  says: 

We  take  occasion  here  to  say  that  in  our  opinion  the  work  should  be  in 
the  hands  of  the  state  government.  The  whole  state  should  reap  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  work.  *  *  *  We  do  not  like  the  constitution  because  it 
prohibits  the  making  of  any  work  of  internal  improvement  however  wise 
it  may  be  deemed,  or  however  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the  State. 

The  Prairie  du  Chien  Patriot  published  a  series  of  essays 

1  Issue  of  October  5, 1847. 

2  Quoted  in  Argus,  November  2,  1847. 


244  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

on  the  constitution,  signed  "  Old  Crawford  Forever. "     The 
issue  of  March  2,  1847,  contains  the  following: 

ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS. — The  provisions  of  the  constitution  contrary 
to  the  established  democratic  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  monopolies,  and  the 
great  injustice  done  by  it  to  the  new  and  sparsely  settled  countries.  l  [The 
writer  thinks  it  prudent  to  prohibit  the  State  from  pledging  its  credit,  and 
that]  this  state  shall  encourage  internal  improvements  *  *  *  But  the 
great  question  is  what  kinds  of  internal  improvements  do  we  need;  or  are 
best  suited  to  our  circumstances,  and  how  shall  this  be  accomplished?  It 
has  been  the  acknowledged  and  established  doctrine  of  the  dominant  party 
in  the  Union,  since  General  Jackson  made  war  upon  the  United  States  Bank, 
that  monopolies,  such  as  associations  and  corporations,  are  dangerous  to  the 
true  interests  of  the  country,  and  should  therefore,  not  only  not  be  dis- 
couraged, but  should  be  put  down.  Now,  what  does  the  article  of  the  con- 
stitution provide  for?  Why,  in  plain  English,  for  the  greatest  monopolies. 
Internal  improvements  shall  be  encouraged  by  individual  associations  and 
corporations.  [Illustrated  by  the  Sheboygan  &  Fond  du  Lac,  Milwaukee 
&  Mississippi,  R.  R.  companies,  etc.]  The  capital  stock  of  these  roads 
must  be  taken,  if  taken  at  all,  principally  by  foreigners.  *  *  *  The 
interest  of  the  public  is  not  consulted  nor  is  it  a  ruling  motive.  *  *  *  The 
interests  of  the  people,  therefore,  must  succumb  to  the  interest  of  foreign 
stock-holders.  But  if  the  state,  when  able  to  do  so  without  contracting  debts, 
should  make  these  roads,  they  would  be  under  the  control  of  the  people, 
and,  of  course,  be  managed  for  the  good  of  the  people.  But  as  it  is,  the 
constitution,  if  adopted,  provides  for  the  creation  of  monopolies  with  cap- 
ital stocks  of  from  one-half  to  two  or  three  millions,  and  that  too  in  the 
hands  and  under  the  control,  principally,  of  foreigners  who  would,  of 
course,  seek  their  own  interests  and  not  that  of  the  people  any  further 
than  their  own  could  be  promoted  by  it.  (Here  the  writer  figures  out  the 
proceeds  of  the  500, 000  acre  grant,  of  the  five  per  cent  fund,  etc.,  and  ad- 
vocates the  improvement  of  rivers  and  the  building  of  common  roads  rather 
than  railroads.)  *  *  *  People  of  Crawford  and  the  country  north,  and  in- 
deed of  all  the  state,  before  you  vote  for  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
now  before  us,  whether  you  are  a  Democrat  or  a  Whig,  or  anything  else, 
remember  that  if  you  vote  for  it  you  vote  for  a  system  of  monopolies  of  the 
most  dangerous  kind;  monopolies  that  will  grind  you  and  your  produce, 
who,  or  which  may  travel  upon  their  roads,  and  which  by  being  in  existence 
will  prevent  the  roads  from  being  made.  You  vote  for  preventing  the 
making  of  internal  improvements  which  the  state  could  and  ought  to  make, 
by  directing  the  funds  given  expressly  for  that  purpose  to  another  use. 
*  *  *  You  doom  the  country  north  to  remain  a  wilderness  and  do 
yourselves  and  others  the  injustice  of  cutting  off  the  very  means  for  roads 
you  looked  for  and  expected  when  you  settled  the  country. 

1  This  quotation  is  the  title  of  the  article. 


1838.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  245 

5.  A  proposed  system  of  internal  improvements.  The  Chicago 
convention. 

The  hope  of  a  national  system  of  internal  improvements 
had  been  abandoned  in  1830.  The  idea,  however,  still  lin- 
gered in  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  every  now  and  then 
it  was  fanned  into  a  revival.  The  West,  especially,  had 
long  supported  internal  improvement  schemes,  and  was 
even  ready  to  enter  upon  an  alliance  with  the  South,  in  the 
hope  of  receiving  the  support  of  that  section  in  securing 
large  land  grants.  The  idea  of  a  system  of  improvements 
should  be  noticed,  because  in  it  lie  the  germs  of  a  tendency 
towards  general  railroad  legislation.  The  subject  of  gen- 
eral legislation  ^will  be  treated  in  a  subsequent  section. 
Here,  we  shall  consider  the  attempt  to  inaugurate  a  system 
in  Wisconsin. 

As  early  as  1838,  there  was  introduced  in  the  council  of 
the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  "A  bill  to  create  and  establish 
a  system  of  internal  improvements  in  the  Territory  of  Wis- 
consin, on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  River. M1  The  bill 
provided  (81)  for  a  board  of  internal  improvements  consist- 
ing of  three  members,  appointed  by  the  governor  with  the 
advice  of  the  council,  each  under  (§  2)  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollar  bonds.  The  board  of  commissioners  (§3)  shall 
have  power  to  borrow  $1,500,000  in  sums  not  exceeding 
$300,000  at  any  one  time,  on  the  credit  of  the  State.  These 
loans  shall  bear  not  less  than  6  per  cent  interest,  and  be 
paid  in  30  years.  The  legislature  directs  the  application 
of  such  funds.  The  proceeds  and  profits  (§4)  of  such  im- 
provements are  pledged  for  the  payment  of  principal  and 
interest;  and,  together  with  federal  land  grants  and  pro- 
ceeds of  land  sales,  shall  form  an  internal  improvement  fund. 
The  executive  (§  5)  shall  issue  scrip  on  such  loan  certifi- 
cates whenever  requested  to  do  so  fly  purchasers  of  such 
certificates.  The  remaining  three  sections  of  the  bill  are 
given  up  to  provisions  relating  to  the  board  itself. 

Newspaper  material  is  extremely  scarce  for  this  period. 

1  Council  file  No.  5,  in  office  of  secretary  of  state.  I  know  of  no  printed 
copy  of  this  bill. 


246  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

I  have  been  able  to  find  but  one  editorial  on  this  bill.  The 
Miners'  Free  Press  (Mineral  Point)  of  December  18,  1838, 
says: 

We  know  of  no  other  way  [than  that  provided  for  in  the  above  bill]  by 
which  to  effect  these  important  measures  of  internal  improvements.  We 
must  endeavor  to  get  as  large  an  appropriation  in  land  and  money  from 
Congress  as  possible;  without  which  it  would  be  folly  for  us  to  enter  into 
the  scheme.  But  before  we  begin,  if  we  have  the  means  of  paying  off  the 
debt,  when  the  works  shall  be  completed,  without  loading  the  people  down 
with  taxes,  we  shall  be  able  in  a  few  years  after  to  make  such  other  im- 
provements as  may  be  necessary  from  the  revenue  derived  from  those  which 
cost  us  nothing;  we  will  be  a  happy  and  thriving  people,  enjoying  all  the 
advantages  of  a  complete  system  of  internal  improvements  without  having 
to  pay  too  dearly  for  the  whistle. 

Succeeding  messages  of  governors,  and  the  journal  of 
the  council,  give  us  no  information  regarding  the  conse- 
quences of  this  act,  nor  do  I  find  later  newspaper  references 
to  it.  So  it  is  probable  that  it  never  resulted  in  more  than 
a  temporary  agitation. 

But  a  movement  which  had  greater  consequences,  and 
which  attracted  great  attention  throughout  the  country,  is 
next  to  occupy  our  attention.  I  refer  to  the  Chicago  con- 
vention of  July,  1847. l  The  circular  letter  issued  by  the  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  citizens  of  Chicago,  sets  forth  the 
objects  of  the  meeting  at  some  length.  It  informs  us  that 
public  meetings  had  been  held  in  various  sections  of  the 
country  to  consider  the  high  prices  of  freight  and  loss  of 
life  and  property  upon  Western  waters.  At  all  these  meet- 
ings, "  the  propriety  of  holding  a  convention  at  some  con- 
venient point  was  discussed  and  universally  concurred  in. " 
The  fact  that  Chicago  had  secured  the  convention,  shows 
us  that  Eastern  and  lake  interests  had  gained  the  ascend- 
ency over  Southern  and  river  interests.2  The  high  price 
of  freight,  and  the  loss  of  life  and  property,  were  to  be 
the  chief  subjects  of  discussion  also,  of  the  Chicago  con- 

1  Wheeler,    Biographical  and   Political  History  of  Congress,  ii, 
p.  294;    72  Niles,  index;  American  Railroad  Journal,  for  1847;  news- 
papers for  1847,  especially  from  about  May  to  August. 

2  Libby's  Lead  and  Shot  Trade. 


1 847.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  247 

vention.  However,  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  circular 
expressly  states  that  "  whatever  matters  appertain  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  West,  and  to  the  development  of  its  re- 
sources, will  come  properly  "  before  the  convention. 

This  convention  of  over  2,500  delegates  was  non-partisan. 
There  were  present  whigs  and  locofocos,  governors  and 
congressmen,  doctors  of  divinity  and  laymen,  and  newspaper 
editors  from  New  York  and  Boston  to  St.  Louis  and  New 
Orleans.1  Representatives  of  all  these  classes  took  part  in 
the  discussion.  The  press  "East  and  West,  North  and 
South, "  had  given  extended  notice  of  the  gathering,  and 
prominent  men  who  could  not  attend  sent  letters  of  re- 
grets. Thus,  Henry  Clay  "should  have  been  happy  to  as- 
sist in  the  accomplishment"  of  the  objects  of  the  conven- 
tion ;  Daniel  Webster  hopes  "  the  convention  may  do  much 
good,  by  enforcing  the  necessity  of  exercising  these  just 
powers  of  government;"  Thomas  H.  Ben  ton,  like  Webster, 
wrote  a  long  letter  dwelling  on  the  importance  of  internal 
improvements,  but  pushes  his  constitutional  objections 
into  the  foreground;  Van  Buren  wishes  "  success  to  all 
constitutional  efforts;"  and  Lewis  Cass  simply  regrets  that 
circumstances  have  put  it  out  of  his  power  to  be  present. 
The  Milwaukee  Sentinel  and  other  papers  found  fault  with 
Cass  for  his  indifference,  being  himself  a  Western  man. 
This  is  only  another  indication  of  the  prominence  the  Chi- 
cago convention  assumed  at  that  time.  Silas  Wright,  D.  S. 
Dickinson,  and  others  also  sent  letters. 

A  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose,  reported  a  series 
of  fifteen  resolutions,  declaratory  of  the  sentiments  of  the 
convention.  They  were  debated  at  some  length  by  a  num- 
ber of  able  speakers  and,  excepting  the  last  clause  of  the 
fifth,  unanimously  adopted.  An  executive  committee,  con- 
sisting of  two  members  from  each  State,  was  appointed  to 
collect  and  transmit  to  congress  the  proceedings  of  the  con- 
vention, and  statistical  and  other  matter  "  calculated  to  en- 
force the  views  of  the  convention. "  An  analysis  of  the  con- 

1 72  Niles,  p.  333,  gives  a  list  of  the  editors  in  attendance. 


248  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       |  vol.  xiv. 

tents  of  these  resolutions  would  involve  a  full  discussion  of 
the  subject  of  internal  improvements,  both  historically  and 
constitutionally,  which,  of  course,  is  here  out  of  place.  It 
is  the  impulse  of  the  enthusiasm  to  which  this  convention 
gave  rise  which  bears  upon  the  subject  of  this  essay. 

Wisconsin  papers,  without  exception,  gave  much  atten- 
tion to  the  convention.1    The  editor  of  the  Sentinel  says, 
"  It  will  be  a  memorable  convention,  and  the  voice  uttered 
by  it    *    *    *    will    *    *    *    be  a  voice  of  power." 

It  was  a  grand  national 2  convention,  and  it  gave  a  mighty 
impulse  to  the  growing  nationalism  of  that  period.  At  a 
public  meeting  held  in  Boston 3  for  the  purpose  of  electing 
delegates  to  this  convention,  Josiah  Quincy,  then  mayor  of 
that  city,  opened  the  proceedings  with  a  powerful  address 
in  which  the  boundless  resources  and  fertility  of  the  West 
were  enthusiastically  depicted.  The  products  of  this  West 
offered  great  inducements  to  the  people  of  Boston  and 
New  England  to  attract  trade  towards  their  own  harbors. 
New  York,  upon  the  recommendations  of  its  chamber  of 
commerce,  took  similar  action.  The  eyes  of  the  country 
were  turned  toward  Chicago  and  the  West.  The  West 
caught  the  inspiration,  and  with  one  triumphant  sweep  cast 
its  eyes  over  the  vastness  of  unsubdued  nature  and  entered 
upon  a  long  era  of  conquest.  One  cannot  read  the  news- 
paper accounts  of  this  convention  without  feeling  the  buoy- 
ancy with  which  the  West  rode  on  the  crest  of  the  wave. 
"  Mr.  A.  Lincoln  of  Illinois  *  *  *  was  called  to  the  stand, " 
says  one  reporter,  "  and  addressed  the  convention  for 
tabout  en  minutes."  Thomas  Cor  win,  of  .Ohio,  "the  elo- 

JFond  du  Lac  Journal,  July  22, 1847:  Prairie  du  Chien  Patriot,  July 
15,  1847;  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  July  8  to  10,  1847,  contain  the  best  ac- 
counts, having  a  full  report. 

2  The  following  states  were  represented:    Connecticut,  Florida,  Georgia, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Kentucky,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Mis- 
souri, New  Hampshire,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode 
Island,  South  Carolina,  Wisconsin.    The  total  number  of  delegates  is  vari- 
ously stated  at  from  2,500  to  5,000.    The  absence  of  Louisiana  is  noticeable. 
Was  it  because  New  Orleans  saw  her  star  overshot  by  Chicago? 

3  72  Niles,  p.  266. 


I847-49-]        WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  249* 

quent  wagon  boy, "  appeared  on  the  stage  amid  the  cheers 
of  thousands.  Horace  Greeley  was  called  for  and  responded. 
How  well  Wisconsin  caught  the  spirit  is  shown  nowhere 
so  well  as  in  the  "  sentiments  "  offered  at  the  annual  cele- 
brations of  the  Wisconsin  Sons  of  New  York.1  At  these  an- 
niversaries, each  toast  closed  with  a  "sentiment,"  These 
sentiments  covered  a  variety  of  subjects,  such  as  "Wiscon- 
sin, "  "  Union  Now  and  Forever, "  "  Holland, "  "  Hungary, " 
"  New  York, "  "  Ireland, "  "  The  Pilgrim  Fathers, "  "  Our 
Own  Franklin,"  etc.  At  the  celebration  of  1847,  the  fol- 
lowing, among  many  others,  were  offered: 

The  Magnetic  Telegraph  from  Milwaukee  to  Buffalo. —  It  unites  the  land 
of  our  own  birth  with  the  home  of  our  adoption;  may  it  make  them  one  in 
interest,  one  in  progress,  and  one  in  common  destiny. 

Milwaukee  the  Banner  City  of  the  West. —  But  twelve  years  since,  a  sta- 
tion for  the  Indian  trader,  she  now  numbers  fourteen  thousand  as  her  busy 
population.  Having  laid  her  foundations  broad  and  deep  in  churches  and 
common  schools,  her  course  is  onward  and  upward. 

New  York  and  Wisconsin. — Jewels  worthy  of  a  nation's  diadem  —  the 
one  the  acknowledged  Empire  State  of  the  East;  the  other  destined  to  be 
the  Empire  of  the  West. 

The  "  age  of  steam  "  and  similar  phrases  appear.  From 
the  sentiments  offered  in  1849,  we  may  select  the  following: 

The  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railroad. —  Projected  and  (at  present) 
prosecuted  by  individual  energy  and  enterprise,  may  it  receive  the  favor- 
able notice  and  encouragement  of  the  state  legislature,  until  its  Iron  Horse 
shall  slake  his  thirst  in  the  broad  Mississippi,  and  from  there  may  it  be 
adopted  by  Congress,  and  extended  westward  until  its  iron  bands  shall  en- 
circle the  continent  and  become  the  great  highway  of  nations. 

Plank  Roads. —  The  small  arteries,  may  they  penetrate  every  avenue  of 
our  state. 

A  Carrier  Boy's  Address  (Sentinel)  of  January  1,  1850, 
contains  the  following  lines : 

Before  I  close  my  annual  ditty, 
I  fain  would  sing  of  our  own  city; 
Tell  of  her  trade  and  mammoth  blocks, 
Her  busy  streets  and  thronging  docks, 
And  beauty,  wit,  and  enterprise, 
So  needful  to  her  onward  rise. 

1  Sentinel,  in  late  December  and  early  January  numbers,  1846-49,  gives 
full  accounts. 


250  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS,      [vol.  xiv. 

Her  Plank  Roads  smooth  as  carpet  floor, 
Bring  daily  produce  to  our  door; 
Soon  the  Rail-cars  with  snorting  steed, 
Shall  plough  their  way  through  rolling  mead, 
And  lake  and  river  shake  the  hand, 
Across  Wisconsin's  happy  land. 

Without  multiplying  illustrations  of  this  kind,  it  is  clear 
that  Wisconsin  had  caught  the  spirit  of  the  great  conven- 
tion ;  and  "  felt  that  something  had  to  be  done. " 

6.  Asa  Whitney's  Oregon  railroad.1 

Nothing  can  more  forcibly  illustrate  what  has  in  a  pre- 
vious section  been  characterized  as  politics  of  great  geo- 
graphical dimensions,  than  the  project  of  a  Pacific  railroad. 
Asa  Whitney,  its  projector,  was  a  New  York  merchant  who 
had  just  returned  from  a  trip  to  China,  and  his  great  rail- 
road to  the  Pacific  was  to  open  up  the  whole  Orient.  Wis- 
consin people  looked  upon  China  as  a  part  of  the  West, 
and  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railroad  was  to  be  an  im- 
portant link  in  the  chain  that  was  soon  to  extend  from 
New  York  to  Oregon  and  Asia.  Even  a  Fond  du  Lac  ed- 
itor could  hold  up  before  his  readers  the  vision  of  teas  and 
spices  brought  to  that  city  over  the  great  railroad  "  direct 
from  China. "  As  early  as  1842,  a  Milwaukee  editor  advo- 
cated the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  route  because  "  it  would 
constitute  a  permanent  link  in  the  Great  Oregon  Railroad, 
which  the  indomitable  spirit  of  American  enterprise  would, 
•at  no  distant  day,  exhibit  to  an  admiring  world,  connect- 
ing our  Atlantic  with  our  Pacific  sea-board."  Whitney's 
journey  through  Wisconsin  (summer  of  1845)  attracted 
wide  attention,  particularly  his  stay  at  Prairie  du  Chien. 

1  For  particulars  of  this  enterprise,  consult:  American  Railroad  Jour- 
nal, 1847,  pp.  332,  348;  1849,  pp.  519,  631,  645;  1851,  pp.  404,  422,  728. 
68  Niles,  pp.  370,  312,  384.  Congressional  Globe,  index  for  1845-52.  Wis- 
consin references  are  Milw.  Sentinel  and  Gazette,  Jan.  29,  1842,  May  1, 
1848,  Jan.  4,  1850;  Grant  Co.  Herald  (Lancaster),  June  28,  July  5,  19, 
Aug.  2,  1845,  Dec.  25,  1847,  March  3,  June  10,  1848;  Prairie  du  Chien 
Patriot,  Sept.  22,  Dec.  1,  1846,  June  15,  1847;  Pond  du  Lac  Whig, 
Dec.  31,  1846,  Oct.  7,  1847. , 


I845-]  WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  251 

A  Grant  county  editor  finds  delight  in  the  fact  that  Whit- 
ney, in  coming  "West,  had  not  traveled  by  way  of  Galena, 
of  which  place  the  editor  seemed  to  have  been  very  jealous; 
possibly  because  of  the  superior  advantages  which  that 
city  would  enjoy  upon  the  completion  of  the  Chicago  & 
Galena  Railroad.  Soon  after  Whitney's  visit  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  Ira  B.  Brunson,  a  citizen  of  that  place,  published 
letters  in  which  he  pointed  out  the  dangers  and  weaknesses, 
as  he  saw  them,  of  Whitney's  project.  The  latter  had 
asked  for  a  strip  of  land  sixty  miles  in  width,  extending 
from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Pacific.  Brunson  presented  a 
long  array  of  figures  to  prove  that  he  could  build  the 
Pacific  railroad  for  a  grant  of  land  ten  miles  less  in  width. 
Wisconsin  railroad  politics  was  closely  connected  with  the 
Pacific  project  during  the  fifteen  years  between  1840  and 
1855. 

Whitney's  memorial  was  presented  (January  28,  1845)  to 
the  house  of  representatives  by  a  congressman  from  New 
York.  It  sets  forth  the  great  commercial  advantages  to  be 
derived  from  the  proposed  route  to  the  Pacific.  An  un- 
broken line  of  rails  from  New  York  to  the  ports  of  west- 
ern Lake  Michigan  was  about  to  be  completed.  With  a 
trans-continental  railroad  at  its  command,  the  government 
could  concentrate  the  forces  "  of  our  vast  country "  at  any 
point  from  Maine  to  Oregon,  "  in  the  short  space  of  eight 
days."  It  would  give  us  direct  communication  with  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  Japan,  China,  Australia,  and  India.  It 
would  enable  the  government  to  send  the  rapidly -increas- 
ing number  of  immigrants  to  earn  a  living  on  the  Western 
lands,  and  thus  avoid  the  dangers  of  vice  and  crime,  into 
which  these  classes  frequently  sink  in  our  Atlantic  cities. 

In  order  to  accomplish  this,  the  memorialist  asks  con- 
gress to  set  apart  a  strip  of  land  sixty  miles  in  width,  and 
extending  from  some  part  in  Wisconsin,  between  parallels 
42  and  45  degrees  of  north  latitude,  to  the  mouth  of 
Columbia  River.  Being  built  at  the  expense  of  the  public 
lands,  this  railroad  should  be  free,  except  so  far  as  tolls 
may  be  levied  sufficient  to  pay  the  current  expenses  of 


252  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

operation  and  repair.  A  low  rate  of  tolls  would  accomplish 
not  only  this,  but  it  would  in  addition  furnish  a  handsome 
surplus  for  public  education.  Finally,  the  memorialist 
points  out  that  Oregon  must  soon  become  a  powerful  and 
wealthy  State;  and,  unless  united  with  the  East  by  such  a> 
railroad,  would  establish  a  separate  government,  monopo- 
lize the  valuable  fisheries  of  the  Pacific,  control  the  coast 
trade  of  Mexico,  South  America,  Japan,  China,  and  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  and  be  our  most  dangerous  and  success- 
ful rival  in  the  commerce  of  the  world.1  In  a  speech  which 
Whitney  delivered  before  the  legislature  of  New  York, 
June  30,  1847,  he  presented  detailed  statistics  and  esti- 
mates in  support  of  his  project.  He  dwelt  at  length  upon 
the  expense  of  time  and  money  involved  in  voyages  to 

1  Congressional  Globe,  1844-45,  p.  218.  The  same  idea  is  expressed  in 
the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  of  February  15, 1853:  "  If  we  do  not  soon  have  a 
Railroad  to  the  Pacific,  we  shall  have  there  a  rival  Republic  instead  of 
sister  States."  Nor  were  these  notions  confined  to  the  West.  It  is  prob- 
able that,  like  many  other  things,  these  types  of  argument  were  imported 
from  the  East.  A  few  lines  from  the  New  York  Tribune  (editorial 
March  18,  1850,  weekly  edition)  will  illustrate  this.  The  article  was  writ- 
ten at  the  time  Walker's  Pacific  Railroad  bill  was  before  congress: 
<(  *  *  *  kut  such  an  attachment  can  not  always  be  proof  against  the 
action  of  natural  causes.  California  and  Oregon  can  not  be  expected  to 
remain  forever  attached  to  a  Government  which  has  its  seat  at  a  month's 
journey  from  them.  The  bonds  of  Empire  must  become  feeble  in  propor- 
tion to  the  distance  over  which  they  are  extended.  *  *  *  The  sure- 
and  only  sure  preventive  of  this  result  is  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific. 

*  *     *     It  would  render  the  political  union  of  this  country  perpetual. 

*  *    *    The  great  result  which  with  certainty  must  follow  the  completion 
of  this  road  is  the  transfer  to  it  and  to  the  United  States  of  the  trade  of 
Asia.     The  commerce  between  Europe  and  the  East  [Orient]  will  pass  over 
it.     *    *    *    The  wealth  of  every  clime  will  pay  its  tribute  to  American 
labor.     *     *     *    A  great  part  of  the  Asiatic  products  which  will  then 
cross  our  territory,  will  be  paid  for  in  American  products.    The  vast  grain- 
growing  region  of  the  West  will  then  have  China  for  a  market.     Our  corn, 
which  at  present  on  its  native  soil  is  comparatively  valueless,  will  then 
cheaply  feed  the  now  starving  millions  of  that  populous  empire,  who  will 
thus  become  the  steady  customers  of  the  farmers  of  the  Northern  Missis- 
sippi Valley.     Thus  will  despotic  and  pauper  Asia  be  brought  into  direct 
and  constant  relations  with  republican  America. —  The  world  will  be  en- 
riched, revolutionized,  transformed." 


1851.]  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  253 

numerous  ports,  and  upon  the  saving  which  the  Pacific 
Railroad  would  make  possible. 

With  great  enthusiasm  and  perseverance,  Whitney  con- 
tinued his  agitation,  addressing  societies  and  business 
men's  organizations ;  and  in  1851  we  find  him  before  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society  of  London,  over  which  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison  presided,  and  in  the  discussions  of  which  Robert 
Stephenson  took  an  active  part.1  While  Stephenson  ap- 
peared skeptical  about  Whitney's  presentation,  he  both 
recognized  and  emphasized  the  commercial  significance 
of  the  project.  In  our  own  country,  the  legislatures  of 
nineteen  or  twenty  States 2  had  endorsed  it.  It  had  re- 
ceived the  support  of  the  leading  chambers  of  commerce, 
particularly  that  of  New  York.  It  had  at  various  times 
been  reported  favorably  in  congress.  It  had  been  supported 
warmly  in  congressional  debates.  Yet  many  people  felt 
that  our  knowledge  of  the  continent  was  not  adequate  to 
warrant  an  undertaking  of  such  magnitude  without  much 
more  elaborate  surveys  than  Whitney  had  made.  They 
said  that  his  plan  did  not  give  sufficient  security  to  the 
government,  that  prominent  engineers  had  not  yet  pro- 
nounced it  practicable,  and  that  numerous  other  objections 
prevented  them  from  supporting  the  plan.  This  sentiment 
was  strong  enough  to  defeat  the  scheme  at  that  time. 
However,  Whitney  continued  his  agitation,  and  from  about 
1852  various  members  of  congress  were  ready  to  push  "a 
railroad  to  the  Pacific. "  Whitney  lived  to  see  the  completion 
of  such  an  enterprise. 

The  first  east-and-west  lines  in  Wisconsin,  especially  the 
Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railroad,  were  considered  a  part 
of  a  great  trans-continental  highway,  and  thus  Whitney's 
project  gave  a  powerful  impulse  to  railroad  building  in  this 
State. 

7.   The  element  of  rivalry.     Summary. 

At  the  present  time,  talk  about  a  British  railroad  to 
India  increases  both  in  volume  and  earnestness.  The  Rus- 

1  Railroad  Journal,  1851,  p.  422. 

2  Congressional  Globe,  1848-49,  p.  381. 


254  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

sian  railroads  across  Siberia  and  China,  and  through  Central 
Asia  to  the  Chinese  border,  appear  to  have  aroused  British 
jealousy.  An  additional  stimulus  has  been  given  by  the  new 
enterprise  to  the  British  India  project,  which  Russia  is 
pushing  post-haste,  of  a  branch  from  her  Central  Asian  line 
through  Persia  south  to  the  Persian  Gulf.1  The  element  of 
rivalry  which  in  this  case  is  stimulating  English  sentiment, 
manifested  itself  in  numberless  ways  in  Wisconsin  railroad 
history.  Now  it  was  the  competition  between  companies  of 
the  same  city,  then  again  the  rivalry  between  different  cities 
and  villages,  or  groups  of  cities  and  villages;  finally,  the 
local  struggle  was  often  but  a  part  of  a  greater  conflict  be- 
tween the  commercial  interests  of  different  sections  of  the 
country.  In  the  latter  case  it  usually  took  the  form  of  a 
steady  business  pressure,  while  the  former  phases  of  rivalry 
frequently  degenerated  into  open  hostility  and  bitter  per- 
sonal attacks. 2  Articles  often  abounding  in  abuse  and  gross 
misrepresentations,  appear  simultaneously  in  newspapers 
in  many  different  localities.  Alleged  interviews  with  well- 
known  persons  were  published  in  New  York,  Boston,  Cin- 
cinnati, St.  Louis,  and  other  cities,  in  order  to  effect  or 
prevent  the  sale  of  certain  railroad  stock.  Acting  upon 
public  opinion,  these  wars  made  and  unmade  railroad  un- 
dertakings. 

The  earliest  struggle  was  that  between  the  Mississippi 
route  and  the  Lake  &  Erie  Canal  route,  which,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  turned  in  favor  of  the  latter  about  1845. 3  Then 
there  was  a  struggle  between  Green  Bay,  Milwaukee,  and 
Chicago  for  the  trade  of  southwestern  Wisconsin,  which 
practically  was  decided  by  the  decline  of  the  Fox  &  Wis- 
consin improvement  schemes  in  favor  of  the  railroad  routes 

1 "  The  Week's  Current,"  June  26, 1897,  quoted  from  New  York  Tribune. 

2  Consult  Byron  Kilbourn's  manuscript  "  History  of  the  Milwaukee  & 
LaCrosse  Land  Grant,"  in  the  library  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society. 

3  Henry  Fairbank,  Political  Economy  of  Railroads  (London,  1836), 
ch.  xxi.    This  author,  ten  years  before  the  change  took  place,  pointed  out 
that  "  commerce  [would  be]  diverted  from  the  western  rivers,  by  railways 
to  the  Atlantic." 


1847-48.]       WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  255 

to  Chicago  and  Milwaukee.  The  chartering  of  the  Chicago  & 
Galena  railroad  in  1847,  and  the  arrival  of  its  first  locomotive 
in  1848,  was  one  of  the  sharpest  spurs  to  arouse  Milwaukee 
activity.  After  Milwaukee  had  outstripped  Sheboygan  and 
Green  Bay  in  the  race  for  Wisconsin  lake  supremacy,  Ra- 
cine and  Kenosha  continued  the  struggle  and  prevented 
the  fixing  of  an  eastern  terminus  in  the  charter  (1847),  just 
as  Potosi,  Cassville,  and  Prairie  du  Chien  had  prevented 
the  fixing  of  a  western  terminus.  Southwestern  Wisconsin 
held  largely  with  Milwaukee,  because  of  the  much- desired 
northern  route  to  the  Pacific ;  but  when  a  middle  route  to 
the  Pacific  seemed  probable,  that  section  gave  Chicago 
greater  support.  The  editor  of  the  Grant  County  Herald1 
states  one  of  the  problems  when  he  says : 

The  northern  road  must  be  done  speedily  —  done  before  a  central  railroad 
shall  be  completed  from  the  Atlantic  to  St.  Louis;  for  if  done  now,  it  be- 
comes the  basis  of  an  extension  of  railroad  westward  to  Oregon;  if  not  done 
before  the  completion  of  a  railroad  from  the  Atlantic  to  St.  Louis,  then  St. 
Louis  becomes  the  starting  point  of  an  extension  of  railroad  to  the  Pacific. 
The  question  is,  shall  the  upper  West  or  shall  the  lower  West  be  the 
great  avenue  of  trade  and  commerce,  not  only  with  the  heart  of  this 
great  continent,  but  ultimately  with  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  and  with 
the  opulent  Indies.2 

Again,  in  a  stirring  editorial,  the  same  writer  exclaims 
that  we  must  have  a  railroad.  "  The  northwest  is  lagging. 
The  world  is  running  away  from  us.  Look  around  us.  See 
our  undeveloped  resources ;  our  fertile  lands  uncultivated. " 
He  expresses  it  as  his  opinion  (December  25,  1848)  that  un- 
less Milwaukee  will  at  once  put  herself  in  connection  with 
western  Wisconsin  she  will  be  "  not  exactly  a  gone  sucker, 
but  her  trade  will  have  gone  to  'sucker,'"  for  Chicago 

1  December  25,  1847,  and  June  10, 1848. 

2  That  Horace  Greeley  strongly  urged  the  idea  of  a  great  Oriental  market, 
we  have  already  seen.    But  one  of  his  arguments  in  favor  of  a  northern 
route  to  the  Pacific,  is  too  novel  to  be  left  unnoticed:     "  The  necessity  of  a 
northern  rather  than  a  southern  route  is  a  natural  one.     It  grows  out  of 
the  form  of  the  earth.    Everybody  knows  that  the  earth  is  larger  around 
at  the  equator  than  at  the  poles."—  Weekly  Tribune,  editorial,  March  18, 
1850.    In  succeeding  numbers  of  the  Tribune,  the  Pacific  project  is  argued 
vigorously  and  in  detail. 


256  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

would  soon  enter  her  rival's  territory.  At  any  rate,  he 
thinks,  Milwaukee  should  at  once  build  to  Janesville,  and, 
by  connecting  with  the  Chicago  &  Galena  road,  give  Grant 
county  the  advantages  of  two  routes  by  rail  eastward.  The 
editor  of  the  Sentinel,1  commenting  on  an  article  in  the 
Argus,  gives  expression  to  the  prevalent  spirit  of  expansion 
in  the  following  words:  "Wisconsin  must  and  will  be  the 
great  thoroughfare  from  east,  to  an  almost  boundless  and 
productive  west,  beyond  the  Mississippi."  The  Argus,  on 
its  part,  referring  to  the  Madison-Janesville-Chicago  line, 
sees  no  "  occasion  for  rivalry  in  the  construction  of  these 
great  works." 

For  about  twelve  years  Wisconsin  has  been  the  west  of  the  immigrants. 
This  can  not  continue  many  years  longer,  for  a  vast  agricultural  west 
stretches  away  a  thousand  miles  beyond  the  Mississippi.  While  our  citi 
zens  are  congratulating  themselves  that  they  are  finally  west,  the  west  is 
already  receding  from  them,  and  the  state  is  soon  to  become  emphatically 
east  *  *  *  The  living  tide,  within  a  few  years  will  pass  by  us  to  west- 
ern homes,  and  their  surplus  wealth  will  seek  our  railroads  and  water  com- 
munications, as  ours  now  seeks  those  farther  eastward  *  *  *  The  ques- 
tion in  a  few  years  will  be,  how  can  we  make  the  railroad  of  a  capacity  to 
do  the  business.  *  *  * 

Mayor  Kilbourn,  of  Milwaukee,  in  his  inaugural  address 
of  April  12,  1848,  very  clearly  set  forth  the  position  of  the 
city.  No  other  city  on  the  chain  of  the  northern  lakes, 
said  he,  possesses  higher  natural  advantages  for  business 
than  Milwaukee.  But  these  natural  advantages  may  be 
lost  by  supineness  or  indifference  on  the  part  of  those  in 
whose  favor  they  exist.  Art  and  enterprise  may  do  much 
to  overcome  difficulties  and  disadvantages  of  position,  and 
change  the  current  of  commerce  and  trade  from  its  natural 
direction  into  artificial  channels.  The  history  of  New  York 
and  Boston  illustrates  this.  But  just  as  New  York  has  her 
Boston,  "  so  Milwaukee  has  her  Chicago,  in  competition 
for  the  rich  prize  which  nature  awarded,  and  designed  to  be 
hers. "  Boston  enterprise  compelled  New  York  to  build  her 
Erie  Railroad.  Will  not  Chicago  enterprise  compel  Mil- 
waukee to  build  the  Mississippi  Railroad?  Unless  Milwau- 

1  August  23,  1850. 


1836-48.]       WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  257 

kee  is  content  to  see  the  business  of  the  finest  region  of  the 
country  wrested  from  her  grasp,  she  must  do  it  and  with- 
out delay.1 

The  editor  of  the  Milwaukee  Courier*  dwelt  upon  the 
jealousy  existing  between  New  York  and  Boston: 

11  They  both  appreciate  the  value  of  western  trade.  They  are  both  de- 
termined to  avail  themselves  to  the  greatest  possible  extent  of  the  advan- 
tages to  be  derived  from  it;  and  in  order  to  do  this,  they  are  determined,  it 
would  seem,  to  have  a  railroad  across  Wisconsin,  if  we  only  give  them 
leave  and  do  what  little  we  can  to  aid  the  work."  Millions  of  Boston  and 
New  York  capital  have  been  idle  for  years,  and  "  the  owners  are  becoming 
impatient  for  investment.  They  have  lost  all  confidence  in  bank  stocks; 
state  stocks,  since  the  doctrine  of  repudiation  has  been  started,  have  be- 
come for  the  most  part  valueless,  and  railroad  stock  has  become  almost 
the  only  go." 

This  will  be  sufficient  to  show  that  the  element  of  rivalry 
was  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in  our  early  railroad  history. 
Before  passing  to  the  next  chapter  it  may  be  well,  in  con- 
clusion, to  summarize  the  chief  characteristic  of  this  early 
period  of  agitation. 

Our  railroad  history  begins  simultaneously  with  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Territory  in  1836.  Wisconsin  was  then 
but  a  sparsely-settled  frontier  region  with  about  22,000  in- 
habitants. In  1840  its  population  was  but  30,945,  while  by 
1850  it  had  risen  to  305,391,  and  in  1855  to  552,109.  At  the 
opening  of  the  period,  Milwaukee  was  a  village  "  situated 
on  both  sides  of  the  Milwaukee  River  about  two  miles  from 
its  mouth."3  It  had  numerous  rivals.  Dubuque,  Prairie 
du  Chien,  Mineral  Point,  and  Belmont  —  which  was  then 
the  capital  —  considered  themselves  its  equals  or  superiors, 
while  other  lake  ports  struggled  for  leadership.  The  lead 
trade  had  brought  people  into  the  southwestern  part,  and 
with  the  influx  of  population  into  the  southeastern  part, 
there  were  formed  two  waves  of  population  moving  from 

1  See  similar  expressions  in  the  Sentinel  and  Gazette^  February  23, 
28,  and  May  9,  1848. 

2  February  9,  1842. 

3  Milwaukee  Advertiser,  July  14,1836,  contains  a  description  of  Mil- 
waukee. 

17 


258  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.xiv. 

opposite  sides  into  the  middle  region.  The  Lake  and  the 
River  were  "  feeling "  for  each  other.  There  was  an  un- 
covered "  suture  "  between  them. 

Manipulating  the  forces  in  each  of  these  waves,  were  the 
commercial  interests  of  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  on  the 
one  hand,  and  New  York,  Boston,  and  the  lake  ports  on  the 
other.  Geographical  conditions,  together  with  the  relative 
decline  in  commercial  importance  of  the  lead  trade,  resulted 
in  the  ascendency  of  the  east-and-west  route;  and  with  this 
ascendency,  partly  as  cause  and  partly  as  effect,  the  agi- 
tation for  a  railroad  across  the  Territory  increased.  The 
project  of  Whitney,  and  the  expectation  of  making  Wis- 
consin the  emporium  of  the  great  West,  including  China, 
Japan,  and  other  Pacific  domains,  fan  this  enthusiasm. 
Supported  by  the  resolutions  of  at  least  eighteen  States, 
the  Pacific  road  was  more  than  a  vision  to  the  people  of 
Wisconsin.  Iowa  sent  memorials  to  our  legislature,  urg- 
ing the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  project,  and  "  once  let 
the  iron  horse  slake  his  thirst  in  the  Mississippi,  Congress 
will  send  him  on  to  the  ocean."  And  had  not  Wisconsin 
claims  to  the  patronage  of  the  federal  government?  Could 
this  modest  demand  of  the  Western  child  be  refused?  The 
southwestern  counties  were  probably  really  suffering,  and 
they  were  willing  to  let  "  Sin  and  Death  have  the  con- 
tract," rather  than  have  no  railroad  to  the  lake. 

But  some  of  these  schemes  were  too  visionary  to  be  taken 
seriously.  The  Fond  du  Lac  merchant  might  with  some 
reason  look  forward  to  a  time  when  spices  might  be  deliv- 
ered at  his  door  "  direct  from  Japan ; "  but  what  shall  we 
say  when  a  bill  is  introduced  into  the  legislature  to  incor- 
porate the  Port  Ulao,  Lake  Superior,  Lake  of  the  Woods, 
&  Behring  Straits  Transit  Company?  Port  Ulao  was  then 
a  collection  of  a  few  huts,  and  had  a  pier.  To-day,  about 
twenty  miles  north  of  Milwaukee,  the  traveller  may  see  a 
few  farm  houses,  and  several  piles  still  holding  their  heads 
above  the  waves.  This  is  all  that  is  left  of  a  "  port "  which 
could  cherish  such  a  gigantic  enterprise. 

But  sentiment  was  not  unanimous.     Jackson's  spirit  was 


1836-48.]        WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  259 

abroad.  Even  in  these  remote  woods,  people  had  heard  of 
a  "monster."  Some  even  said  that  railroads  were  such 
monsters.  The  farmers  had  been  warned  against  "monop- 
olies."  And  was  there  no  escape?  New  York  had  pros- 
pered with  her  Erie  Canal.  Then,  why  not  build  canals  in 
Wisconsin?  Gillespie  had  declared  plankroads  to  be  the 
"  farmers '  railroads. "  Every  man  could  use  his  own  boat  on  a 
canal.  He  could  drive,  "Jehu  like, "  over  a  plankroad,  with  a 
borrowed  horse.  There  was  no  monopoly  there.  He  could 
take  his  farm  wagon  and  run  it  over  a  plankroad  or  a  turn- 
pike, but  could  he  ever  use  a  railroad  in  that  way?  His 
English  cousin  had  invented  a  wagon  which,  by  a  change 
of  wheels,  could  be  used  indifferently  on  railroads,  turn- 
pikes, or  streets;  but  the  Wisconsin  farmer  saw  no  such 
escape.  And  would  he  deliberately  subject  himself  to  the 
dangers  of  a  "monster?"  The  teamsters,  the  tavern-keep- 
ers, and  the  village  grocers  felt  that  they  were  threatened 
with  ruin. 

We  have  seen  how  the  promoters  of  railroad  projects  at- 
tempted to  utilize  this  prevalent  hostility  to  "  monopolies, " 
by  urging  the  farmers  to  subscribe  to  railroad  stock  and 
thus  build  their  own  railroad,  and  have  their  own  agents, 
their  own  cars,  their  own  depots,  all  at  their  command. 
That  would  secure  a  high  price  for  wheat,  and  in  addition 
a  high  rate  of  profits  on  their  stock.  Sentiment  was  thus 
not  only  divided,  but  it  was  on  both  sides  grossly  distorted. 
Somehow,  the  sober  after-thought  did  not  assert  itself 
sufficiently;  and  there  were  too  few  men  who  had  well- 
formulated  and  correct  ideas  as  to  the  real  nature  of  rail- 
roads, to  at  once  place  railway  legislation  on  a  rational 
basis.  When  once  the  railroad  mania  had  broken  loose, 
blind  enthusiasm  reigned,  until  disaster  revived  reflection. 
There  is  something  inspiring  in  these  plans  of  our  fathers 
for  executing  great  designs  with  masterful  strokes;  there 
is  something  heroic  about  the  courage  displayed ;  but  their 
lack  of  reflection  casts  a  shadow  over  it  all.  The  school 
fund  itself  was  to  be  sacrificed.  The  most  specious  argu- 
ments were  advanced  to  bedaze  the  unknowing,  and  the 


260  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

most  despicable  means  were  employed  to  silence  the  know- 
ing; while  the  few  who  had  both  courage  and  insight  to 
work  in  the  right  direction,  were  lost  to  sight  in  the  tu- 
multuous struggle. 

The  constitutional  conventions  met  close  upon  the  eve 
of  disaster  in  neighboring  and  Eastern  states.  These  ob- 
ject lessons  were  brought  before  the  conventions;  and,  in 
harmony  with  the  national  drift  of  the  times,  the  State 
was  restrained  from  entering  upon  works  of  internal  im- 
provements. In  view  of  the  legislative  methods  employed 
during  the  later  years  of  this  period,  the  decision  of  the 
conventions  seems  to  have  been  a  prudent  one.  The  prob- 
abilities are  that  Wisconsin  would  have  repeated  not  a 
little  of  the  experience  of  Michigan  and  other  states.  Yet, 
conceding  all  this,  there  is  nothing  to  justify  the  methods 
by  which  the  article  on  internal  improvements  was  incor- 
porated into  our  constitution.  Nevertheless,  the  question 
of  State  or  private  railroads  was  vigorously  discussed  in 
some  parts  of  the  State,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  major- 
ity of  the  people  approved  that  section  of  the  constitution 
when  they  voted  for  the  whole. 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  26 1 


CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY   RAILROAD   CHARTERS,    1836   TO   1853.  * 

1.   What  the  charters  contain.     General  provisions. 

A  mere  glance  at  the  digest  in  the  appendix  shows  us 
the  heterogeneous  character  of  our  early  railroad  charters. 
In  many  of  them,  not  a  third  of  the  elements  essential  to  a 
perfect  charter  are  found;  and  not  five  per  cent  of  the 
charters  are  even  approximately  complete.  There  is  hardly 
a  trace  of  regularity  in  them.  The  utter  lack  of  system  is 
the  more  surprising  when  we  remember  that  the  railroads, 
for  the  construction  of  which  these  charters  were  granted, 
are  everywhere  essentially  alike.  Great  diversity  in  law 
where  there  exists  uniformity  of  conditions  —  this  is  the 
anomaly  presented  by  our  railroad  charters. 

Each  charter  names  a  number  of  persons  who  shall  act 
as  a  board  of  commissioners,  under  whose  direction  may  be 
received  subscriptions  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  company 
incorporated  by  the  charter.  After  notice  has  been  given 
in  certain  newspapers,  within  a  specified  time,  the  commis- 
sioners may  open  subscription  books,  and  keep  such  books 
open  until  all  the  stock  has  been  subscribed ;  or,  may  re-open 
the  books,  in  case  all  the  stock  has  not  been  subscribed. 
Only  a  few  charters  require  a  certain  minimum  payment  at 
the  time  of  subscription;  but  all  of  them  require  a  certain 
amount  to  be  paid  in  before  the  company  can  organize. 
The  amount  which  must  be  subscribed  before  organization 
can  be  effected,  bears  no  fixed  ratio  to  the  total  amount  of 
the  capital  stock  of  the  company.  After  this  minimum 
amount  has  been  subscribed,  the  commissioners,  or  a  cer- 
tain number  of  them,  certify  under  oath  that  such  subscrip- 
tions and  payments  have  been  made  in  good  faith ;  and  de- 

1  See  the  digest  in  the  appendix. 


262  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

posit  a  statement  to  that  effect  with  the  secretary  of  state 
(or  territory),  who  thereupon  declares  the  subscribers  of 
such  stock  and  their  associates,  their  successors  and  as- 
signs, a  body  corporate  and  politic  by  the  name  and  style 
designated  in  the  charter,  with  perpetual  succession.  By 
that  name  they  have  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  in- 
cident to  a  corporation,  thus  subordinating  each  railroad 
company  to  the  general  legislation  on  the  subject  of  corpo- 
rations. As  such  they  shall  be  capable  in  law  of  purchas- 
ing, holding,  selling,  leasing,  and  conveying  estate,  either 
real,  personal,  or  mixed,  so  far  as  the  same  may  be  neces- 
sary for  the  purposes  mentioned  in  the  charter.  In  their 
corporate  name  the  company  may  sue  and  be  sued,  may 
have  a  common  seal,  which  they  may  alter  and  renew  at 
pleasure,  and  generally  do  all  those  things  which  are  legally 
vested  in  them,  for  the  best  interests  of  the  corporation. 

After  the  required  amount  of  stock  has  been  subscribed, 
the  commissioners  call  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders. 
While  the  commissioners  themselves  are  required  to  or- 
ganize, they  can  not  act  in  the  capacity  of  the  corpora- 
tion. Only  the  board  of  directors  can  do  that.  This  board 
is  elected  by  the  stockholders,  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  charter.  Usually  members  are  elected 
annually,  and  have  the  power  of  filling  vacancies  in  their 
own  ranks.  The  only  qualification  uniformly  insisted  upon 
is,  that  a  director  must  be  a  stockholder.  In  voting, — ex- 
cepting the  provisions  of  one  charter,  —  each  share  has  one 
vote;  but  no  one  shall  vote  on  the  basis  of  stock  acquired 
within  a  certain  number  of  days  (usually  thirty)  immedi- 
ately preceding  such  election.  Voting  by  proxy  is  allowed. 
The  board  of  directors,  in  general,  has  power  to  manage 
the  affairs  of  the  company.  It  chooses  its  own  officers  and 
fixes  their  salaries.  It  makes  by-laws  and  establishes  rules, 
orders,  and  regulations;  and,  usually,  the  charter  provides 
that  these  shall  not  be  inconsistent  with  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  State  or  Territory.  The 
board  decides  the  time  and  proportions  in  which  stock- 
holders shall  pay  the  money  due  on  their  respective  shares. 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN    RAILROAD    LEGISLATION.  263 

Most  of  the  charters  limit  the  amount  of  the  assessment 
which  the  board  may  make  at  any  one  time,  and  provide  for 
a  reasonable  time  in  which  to  make  the  payment,  in  default 
of  which  such  stock  uniformly  reverts  to  the  company. 
The  board  is  required  to  issue  certificates  of  stock  to  all 
subscribers,  signed  by  the  president,  countersigned  by  the 
secretary,  and  sealed  with  the  common  seal.  One-fourth  of 
the  stockholders  may  call  a  special  meeting  on  giving  no- 
tice similar  to  that  required  for  the  regular  annual  meet- 
ings; but  no  business  can  be  done  at  these  special  meetings 
unless  a  majority  (in  value)  of  the  stockholders  shall  attend 
in  person  or  by  proxy. 

The  route  of  the  proposed  railroad  is,  as  a  rule,  described 
only  in  the  most  general  terms.  In  some  charters,  not  a 
single  point  is  fixed.  In  others,  one  terminus  is  loosely 
mentioned,  and  the  other  designated,  perhaps,  as  "  some 
eligible"  point  on  a  certain  river,  in  a  certain  county.  The 
name  of  the  corporation  frequently  contains  the  best  avail- 
able description  of  the  projected  enterprise.  But  in  one  way 
or  another,  some  mention  is  made  of  certain  points  or  local- 
ities through  which  the  road  is  to  be  built.  A  number  of 
charters  provide  for  the  building  of  branches;  others  give 
the  board  of  directors  power  to  connect  their  road  with 
other  roads;  others  give  the  board  power  to  purchase  or 
lease  roads;  and  still  others  contain  all  these  provisions. 

With  one  exception,  each  charter  grants  the  company  the 
right  of  expropriation,  and  provides  for  the  settling  of  dis- 
putes which  may  arise  in  the  exercise  of  this  right.  It  shall 
be  lawful  for  the  officers  of  the  company,  their  engineers, 
or  agents,  to  enter  upon  any  lands  for  the  purpose  of  explor- 
ing, surveying,  and  locating  the  route  of  the  proposed 
railroad;  and  after  such  route  has  been  fixed,  to  take 
possession  of  the  necessary  lands.  The  charters  almost 
uniformly  state  how  much  land  the  company  may  lawfully 
take.  In  case  the  owners  of  the  land,  gravel,  stone,  or  other 
material  cannot  come  to  an  agreement  with  the  company, 
the  charters  name  some  authority  who  shall  appoint  arbi- 
trators or  commissioners,  to  whom  the  question  is  sub- 


264  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

mitted.  In  most  cases,  the  charters  prescribe  norms  by 
which  the  tribunal  appointed  for  that  purpose  shall  deter- 
mine the  value  of  the  land  or  material,  and  the  compensa- 
tion to  be  paid  by  the  company  to  the  owners.  If  such 
owners  are  minors,  or  other  persons  legally  incapacitated, 
the  charter  provides  for  the  representation  of  their  inter- 
ests in  these  procedures.  An  appeal  from  the  decision  of 
the  arbitrators  or  commissioners  to  certain  authorities,  and 
the  manner  of  giving  a  final  decision,  is  also  provided 
for,  as  well  as  the  conditions  under  which  the  company 
may  use  or  occupy  such  lands  while  the  decision  is  pend- 
ing. The  company  has  the  right  to  cross  streams  and  high- 
ways ;  but  it  shall  in  no  case  impede,  obstruct,  or  in  any  way 
interfere  with  these,  to  such  an  extent  as  to  inconvenience 
traffic.  All  crossings  shall  be  made  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  leave  the  roads  in  as  good  a  condition  as  before;  and 
where  the  railroad  divides  a  farm,  the  company  shall  pro- 
vide at  least  one  passage-way  for  each  farm  so  divided. 

Most  of  the  charters  contain  some  provisions  as  to  rates. 
The  earlier  ones  are  somewhat  restrictive,  while  nearly  all 
the  later  charters  leave  the  matter  of  rates  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  company.  Charters  which  contain  a  special 
section  on  rates  or  tolls,  provide  that  as  soon  as  the  com- 
pany has  constructed  a  certain  number  of  miles  of  railroad 
they  may  do  business  and  receive  tolls;  but  in  charters 
which  contain,  among  the  general  powers  of  the  directors, 
the  power  to  regulate  tolls,  no  such  special  provision  is 
found.  In  the  more  restrictive  charters,  annual  reports  to 
the  legislature  are  demanded;  while  most  of  them  simply 
prescribe  that  the  board  of  directors  shall  submit  to  the 
stockholders,  at  their  annual  meeting,  a  complete  state- 
ment of  the  affairs  and  proceedings  of  the  company  for 
the  year.  A  large  number  of  charters  contain  provisions 
concerning  the  liability  of  stock  in  payment  for  debt,  and 
a  smaller  number  have  loose  statements  about  the  distri- 
bution of  dividends.  Many  of  the  charters  contain  a  spe- 
cial provision  by  which  the  charter  is  forfeited  in  case  the 
railroad  is  not  begun  within  a  certain  number  of  years  — 


1836-53-]       WISCONSIN   RAILROAD    LEGISLATION.  265 

and  these  usually  require  the  road  to  be  finished  within  a 
certain  period;  while  the  expenditure  of  a  certain  sum 
of  money  in  the  construction  of  the  road  within  the 
first-time  limit,  is  sometimes  provided.  Some  charters  con- 
tain all  these  last  provisions,  and  others  only  one  or  two 
of  them.  In  the  majority  of  charters,  a  violation  by  the 
company  of  any  of  the  provisions  of  the  charter  causes 
the  rights  and  privileges  granted  by  the  same  to  revert  to 
the  State.  Besides,  there  are  penalties  provided  in  case 
of  injury  to  the  property  of  the  company. 

These,  in  a  condensed  form,  are  the  general  provisions 
of  the  charters  of  this  period.  No  provisions,  not  men- 
tioned here,  are  common  to  a  considerable  number  of  them ; 
while  those  provisions,  which  occur  in  several,  but  not  in 
a  sufficient  number  of  charters  to  warrant  their  introduc- 
tion in  the  list  of  general  provisions,  will  be  dealt  with  in 
a  subsequent  section. 

2.   Wherein  the  charters  differ. 

In  the  preceding  section  we  have  noticed  points  of  simi- 
larity among  charters.  To  point  out  their  differences  is  a 
larger  task,  because  unlikenesses  far  outnumber  likenesses. 
Here  again  an  examination  of  the  analytical  digest  in  the 
appendix  will  be  helpful. 

The  number  of  commissioners  varies  from  one  to  forty- 
one  —  nine,  thirteen,  seventeen,  and  nineteen  appearing 
most  frequently;  while  a  considerable  number  of  charters 
provide  for  an  even  number.  One  of  the  charters  names  a 
single  commissioner,  who,  together  with  the  stockholders, 
shall  organize  —  thus  omitting  the  temporary  organization  of 
commissioners,  which  was  the  customary  preliminary  step. 
Another  charter  names  three  persons  who  shall  act  as  direct- 
ors ;  and  a  third  names  eighteen  persons  who  shall  at  once 
form  a  body  corporate.  These  eighteen  have  power  to  choose 
a  board  of  nine  directors,  which  power,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
almost  invariably  delegated  to  the  stockholders.  In  all 
other  charters,  the  formal  election  by  the  stockholders  of 
a  board  of  directors  was  the  significant  step,  before  which 


266  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

the  company  had  no  legal  existence ;  while  in  this  charter, 
the  company  comes  into  existence  simultaneously  with  the 
granting  of  the  charter. 

There  is  less  variation  in  the  number  of  directors.  Nine 
occurs  by  far  most  frequently  from  1848  to  1852;  while 
during  1853,  thirteen  is  more  common.  As  a  rule  these 
directors  choose  their  own  officers;  but  one  charter  pro- 
vides for  a  president,  twelve  directors,  and  such  other  offi- 
cers as  the  stockholders  may  elect.  The  later  charters  fix 
the  number  of  directors  to  be  elected  at  the  first  meeting, 
but  allow  changes  to  be  made  at  any  regular  meeting,  pro- 
vided the  existing  board  gives  proper  notice  of  the  change 
which  is  contemplated.  In  these  cases  the  charter  pre- 
scribes both  the  minimum  and  maximum  numbers, —  not 
less  than  five  nor  more  than  fifteen  being  most  common.  A 
number  of  the  earlier  charters  secured  this  same  privilege 
by  an  amendment.  The  capital  stock  varied  all  the  way 
from  $25,000  to  $6,000,000,  with  power  to  increase  to 
$15,000,000.  The  power  to  increase  the  capital  stock  is 
contained  only  in  a  few  of  the  later  charters.  Naturally 
one  would  expect  the  capital  stock  to  have  approximately 
a  constant  ratio  to  the  number  of  miles  of  road  to  be  built; 
but  no  such  ratio  seems  to  exist.  Likewise  one  would  ex- 
pect a  similar  ratio  between  the  total  stock  and  the  total 
subscriptions  required  before  an  organization  can  be  effected ; 
but  this  does  not  seem  to  be  the  case.  It  varies  all  the 
way  from  2  to  100  per  cent.  Only  in  isolated  cases  is  any 
payment  required  at  the  time  of  making  the  subscrip  tion  ; 
but  there  is  great  uniformity  in  the  amount  required  to  be 
actually  paid  in  on  each  share  subscribed,  before  an  organ- 
ization can  be  effected.  With  but  one  exception,  this  is  $5. 
This  exceptional  case  requires  a  payment  of  only  $1,  while 
five  charters  (out  of  a  total  of  59  which  fall  into  this  period) 
mention  no  such  provision.  In  a  few  cases  the  amount  of 
such  payments  is  indicated  by  naming  a  certain  per  cent 
of  the  face  value  of  the  share. 

There  is  some  variety  in  the  provisions  about  future 
payments  on  subscribed  stock,  with  an  unmistakable  tend- 


1836-53-]       WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  267 

ency  towards  less  restriction  in  the  charter,  to  greater 
power  in  the  board  of  directors.  The  charters  granted 
before  1847,  and  one  of  those  granted  in  that  year,  place 
no  restriction  on  the  size  of  the  installments  which  may  be 
called  for,  except  that  thirty  days'  notice  be  given.  From 
1847  to  1852,  they  contain  more  definite  provisions.  They 
limit  the  assessments  to  from  10  to  25  per  cent  of  the  face 
value  of  the  share,  and  require  thirty  or  sixty  days'  notice; 
in  two  cases,  $2.50  on  a  share  of  $50;  in  three,  a  payment 
of  $12  on  shares  of  $100  was  required,  while  several  char- 
ters contained  no  such  provisions.  One  of  the  charters 
granted  in  1852,  and  nearly  all  of  those  granted  in  1853, 
leave  the  matter  of  assessments  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
the  board  of  directors;  one  of  them  containing  the  modifying 
clause  that  the  board  should  not  have  power  to  call  for  an 
assessment  exceeding  $100  for  each  share  (of  $100);  and 
still  another  charter,  granted  in  1847,  levies  an  additional 
tax  of  one  per  cent  per  month  on  all  delayed  payments  of 
installments. 

Incidentally,  the  size  of  the  shares  has  already  been  in- 
dicated: namely,  $50  and  $100.  In  a  few  cases  only,  was 
the  capital  stock  divided  into  shares  of  $50  each.  One 
charter  gave  each  of  the  first  five  shares  held  by  the  same 
person  one  vote,  and  one  vote  additional  for  every  five 
shares  in  excess  of  the  first  five.  All  other  charters  gave 
each  share  one  vote.  The  period  of  time  during  which  the 
company  organized  under  the  charter  continued  to  exist, 
was  fixed  in  only  a  few  of  the  earlier  charters;  while  the 
time  limits  in  which  the  rights  and  privileges  granted  had 
to  be  exercised,  were  fixed  in  the  great  majority  of  the 
charters  granted  during  this  period.  A  common  provision 
required  the  construction  of  the  railroad  to  be  begun  within 
three  years  after  the  granting  of  the  charter;  and  in  sev- 
eral cases  there  was  required  during  that  time  an  expendi- 
ture of  from  $20,000  to  $50,000,  in  the  construction  of  the 
road.  The  time  allowed  for  the  completion  of  the  road 
varied  from  five  to  fifteen  years  —  ten  years  occurring  most 
frequently.  Eleven  charters  contain  no  such  time  limits, 


268  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

while  a  larger  number  contain  only  one  time  limitation, — 
either  that  in  which  to  begin,  or  that  in  which  to  complete 
the  construction.  In  the  case  of  one  charter,  these  limit- 
ations were  imposed  by  an  amendment. 

A  single  charter  only,  outlines  definitely  the  whole  route 
of  the  proposed  railroad;  this  is  a  charter,  too,  which 
in  all  other  respects  is  the  most  imperfect  of  all,  and  which 
provides  for  the  building  of  a  road  of  minor  significance. 
Out  of  about  twenty-five  provisions  which  form  the  basis 
of  this  comparative  study,  this  charter  contains  but  seven. 
At  the  same  time  it  is  the  only  charter  which  describes 
properly  the  entire  route  between  the  termini.  Nearly  all 
of  the  charters  are  remarkable*  for  their  lack  of  definite- 
ness  and  accuracy  in  naming  termini  and  in  describing  the 
proposed  route.  To  what  extent  this  was  intentional,  and 
the  means  of  employing  questionable  methods,  it  seems 
impossible  to  determine.  In  some  instances,  subscriptions 
to  stock  were  secured  under  pretense  of  building  the  rail- 
road along  a  certain  route;  and  then  a  different  one  was 
selected,  and  additional  subscribers  sought  along  the  new 
route.  For  similar  purposes,  a  change  of  route  was  se- 
cured by  an  amendment  (passed,  like  all  other  amendments 
to  charters,  by  the  legislature).  Lack  of  harmony  in  the 
legislature,  due  to  rivalry  between  different  localities  rep- 
resented by  the  members,  was  another  cause  of  this  in- 
definiteness.  Thus,  in  case  of  the  Lake  Michigan  &  Mis- 
sissippi charter,  the  Racine  faction  defeated  every  attempt 
to  fix  the  termini,  so  that  the  charter  simply  says  that  the 
railroad  shall  be  built  from  "  some  point  on  Lake  Michi- 
gan south  of  town  eight,1  to  a  point  on  the  Mississippi 
River  in  Grant  county."  In  most  cases,  however,  the 
termini  are  definitely  named,  and  frequently  a  few  inter- 
mediate points  are  mentioned.  These  are  usually  embodied 
in  the  charter  name  of  the  corporation,  which,  on  the 
whole,  comprises  the  description  of  the  route  as  definitely 
as  the  charter  itself.  In  many  cases,  the  termini  of  the 

1  Town  8  embraces  the  northern  township  of  Milwaukee  county. 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  269 

proposed  railroad  are  described  as  "  some  eligible  point  in 

the  town  or  county  of to  a  like  point  in  the  town  or 

county  of , "  or,  "  on river. "  In  general,  the  power 

to  determine  the  route  is  vested  in  the  board  of  directors, 
and  this  board  often  has  power  not  only  to  "  locate, "  but 
also  to  "  re-locate, " —  not  only  to  "  construct, "  but  also  to 
"  re-construct. " 

A  number  of  the  earliest  charters  embody  no  provisions 
empowering  the  company  to  connect  its  railroad  with  that 
of  other  companies.  In  order  to  secure  this  privilege,  the 
passage  of  amendments  became  necessary.  Some  charters 
.give  the  company  the  right  to  build  certain  specified 
branches;  but  nearly  all  the  charters  granted  from  1847  for- 
ward, give  the  company  the  right  to  extend,  connect,  or 
operate  its  road  with  that  of  other  companies;  those  of 
1853  usually  contain  a  provision  by  which  the  company 
may  lease,  operate,  or  purchase  other  railroads.  Begin- 
ning with  one  charter  granted  in  1840,  and  the  first  two 
granted  in  1852,  the  charters  often  contain  an  express 
grant  of  the  power  of  the  company  to  consolidate  its  cap- 
ital stock  with  that  of  other  companies,  under  a  joint  board 
of  directors.  In  a  number  of  charters  this  power  is  con- 
tained in  a  separate  section;  while  in  others  it  is  given 
among  the  general  powers  of  the  board  of  directors;  and 
in  still  others  it  is  only  implied  in  the  power  to  operate 
with  other  railroads,  to  lease  or  to  purchase  them.  How- 
ever, about  one-half  of  the  charters  of  1852  and  1853  are 
silent  upon  this  point.  One  of  the  charters  of  1852  —  the 
same  which  contains  the  first  mention  of  consolidation — 
provides  that  in  case  any  railroad  shall  refuse  to  allow  the 
company  incorporated  by  the  charter  to  connect  its  road 
with  the  same,  an  appeal  may  be  taken  to  the  supreme 
court,  which  may  appoint  three  commissioners  under  whose 
direction  the  dispute  shall  be  settled.  No  other  charters 
contain  this  provision. 

The  subject  of  expropriation  occupies  by  far  the  largest 
amount  of  space,  and  only  one  charter  —  the  first  ever 
granted  —  does  not  grant  this  power.  The  manner  of 


27O  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv, 

settling  disputes  arising  out  of  the  exercise  of  the  power 
of  expropriation  by  the  company,  follows  two  general 
models,  that  of  arbitration  and  that  of  an  appeal  to  some 
judicial  officer,  to  appoint  commissioners.  In  those  cases 
in  which  the  charter  provided  for  arbitration,  each  of  the 
parties  named  one  arbitrator,  and  the  two  thus  selected 
named  a  third ;  the  three  together,  after  deciding  upon  the 
necessity  of  taking  the  land  or  material,  fixed  the  amount 
of  the  compensation  to  be  awarded  to  the  owner.  In  case 
the  owner  was  legally  incapacitated,  the  charter  provided 
for  the  appointment  of  an  arbitrator  to  represent  the  in- 
terests of  such  person  or  persons.  And  in  case  of  an  ap- 
peal, some  authority,  usually  a  judge,  was  named  under 
whose  direction  a  jury  decided  upon  the  case.  This 
method  was  provided  for  in  a  number  of  charters  up  to  1853, 
when  a  slightly  modified  form  of  arbitration  was  employed, 
more  like  the  judicial  method  described  below;  while  in 
the  preceding  years  the  latter  method  was  most  frequently 
employed.  The  later  method  of  arbitration  differed  from 
the  earlier,  in  that  it  empowered  the  county  judge  or  the 
chairman  of  the  county  board  of  supervisors  to  appoint 
three  arbitrators  in  case  the  owner  or  owners  refused  to 
name  one. 

The  method  provided  for  in  most  of  the  charters,  made 
it  lawful  for  the  judge  of  the  circuit  court  of  the  county 
in  which  the  land  was  situated,  on  the  application  of  either 
party,  to  appoint  three  disinterested  persons,  residing  in 
the  county,  whose  duty  it  was  to  view  and  examine  or  sur- 
vey the  land  over  which  the'  disagreement  had  arisen,  and 
to  make  proper  awards  of  damages.  The  report  of  these  ap- 
praisers or  commissioners  was  made  in  writing  to  the  cir- 
cuit judge,  and  filed  with  the  county  clerk  of  the  county. 
Thirty  days  were  allowed  in  which  to  make  an  appeal,  in 
which  case  a  trial  by  jury  was  provided  for. 

A  number  of  earlier  charters  name  the  district  judge; 
one  names  the  "county  commissioners;"  one  names  the 
county  judge  or  the  chairman  of  the  county  board  of  super- 
visors; a  larger  number  name  any  judge  of  the  supreme 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  2JI 

court;  another  the  chief  justice  of  the  supreme  court,  or 
the  circuit  judge;  and  still  another  charter  names  the  cir- 
cuit judge,  "commissioners,"  county  judge,  judge  of  the 
supreme  court,  or  the  judge  of  the  district  court, —  notice 
the  number  of  different  authorities  in  the  same  charter, — 
to  perform  the  functions  described  in  the  preceding  para- 
graph as  belonging  to  the  circuit  judge.  Those  charters 
which  name  a  judge  of  the  supreme  court,  allow  an  appeal 
to  the  circuit  court,  and  the  customary  jury  trial.  This  "su- 
preme court,"  however,  has 'probably  no  reference  to  the 
supreme  court  of  our  State  constitution.  As  we  shall  see 
a  subsequent  section  of  this  chapter,  railroad  charters  in 
granted  by  the  legislature  of  Vermont  contain  similar  pro- 
visions; our  legislators,  when  they  attempted  to  adapt 
Vermont  charters  to  Wisconsin  conditions,  forgot  that 
there  were  no  county  officers  called  supreme  judges,  in  our 
State. 

The  amount  of  land  which  a  company  might  acquire* 
varied  somewhat.  In  a  few  cases  the  company  was  allowed 
to  take  possession  of  as  much  as  "may  be  necessary;"  in 
a  large  number  of  cases,  a  strip  four  or  five  rods  in  width 
could  be  taken ;  in  others,  80  or  130  feet ;  and  by  the  largest 
number  of  charters,  the  company  had  the  power  to 
take  the  necessary  land,  "  not  to  exceed  100  feet."  In  sev- 
eral of  the  earlier  charters,  ownership  of  or  speculation  in 
lands,  beyond  what  was  actually  necessary  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  railroad,  was  prohibited.  Later  charters  con- 
tain no  such  prohibition.  In  addition  to  the  specified  min- 
imum strip  of  land,  it  was  lawful  for  the  company  to  take 
possession  of  adjacent  lands,  when  necessary  for  the  pur- 
pose of  erecting  depots  ("toll-houses"  in  most  charters), 
other  buildings  and  fixtures  necessary  for  the  opera- 
tion of  the  road,  and  also  to  exercise  the  power  of  expro- 
priation to  secure  the  necessary  gravel,  stone,  and  other 
material.  One  charter  made  it  lawful  for  the  company  to 
receive  grants  of  land,  and  another  forbade  the  company 
from  cutting  through  an  orchard  or  garden  without  the 
consent  of  the  owner.  This  clause  was  repealed  later.  A 


272  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

charter  granted  in  1852,  marks  the  beginning  of  land  grants 
by  the  State  legislature.  A  separate  section  of  this  char- 
ter grants  to  the  company  the  usual  strip  of  100  feet  in 
width,  and  other  lands  necessary  for  construction,  wherever 
the  road  may  pass  through  lands  owned  by  the  State;  and 
it  further  provides  that  in  case  congress  should  grant  any 
lands  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  railroad  between  the 
points  mentioned  in  the  charter,  the  company  shall  receive 
such  a  proportion  of  the  congressional  grant  lying  contig- 
uous to  finished  sections  of  the  road,  as  the  section  or  sec- 
tions of  the  road  actually  completed  bear  to  the  whole 
length  of  the  surveyed  route.1 

About  half  of  the  charters  granted  before  1853,  provide 
that  the  appraisers  of  lands  or  material  shall  take  into  con- 
sideration the  advantages  as  well  as  the  disadvantages  aris- 
ing from  the  building  of  the  railroad;  while  the  juries  im- 
panelled to  decide  on  appeals  from  decisions  of  appraisers, 
"  shall  find  the  value  of  the  land,  or  materials  so  taken  or 
required  by  said  company,  and  the  damages  which  the 
owner  or  owners  thereof  shall  have  sustained,  or  may  sus- 
tain by  the  taking  of  the  same,  over  and  above  the  benefits 
which  will  accrue  to  such  owner  or  owners  from  the  con- 
struction of  such  railroad. "  About  half  of  the  charters 
granted  before  1853,  and  all  those  granted  during  that  year, 
do  not  mention  either  advantages  or  disadvantages  in  mak- 
ing appraisals.  Of  the  charters  which  do  not  contain  this 
provision,  a  large  majority  provide  for  the  settling  of  dis- 
putes by  arbitration;  while  most  of  those  which  refer  dis- 
putes directly  to  some  judge,  demand  a  recognition  of  ad- 
vantages and  disadvantages.  In  one  case,  an  amendment 
was  secured  which  empowered  the  chief  justice  of  the 
supreme  court  to  appoint  (or  re-appoint)  appraisers  annu- 
ally. Was  this  to  secure  the  appointment  of  appraisers 
from  the  locality  where  the  road  was  in  process  of  con- 
struction, or  was  it  to  favor  the  company? 

1  A  late  charter  embodies  the  first  part  of  this  provision  —  granting  State 
lands. 


1836-53-]       WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  273 

Excepting  one,  the  charters  of  1848  provide  for  the  com- 
pletion of  at  least  ten  miles  of  road  before  the  company 
may  open  traffic  and  receive  tolls.  This  provision  does  not 
appear  at  all  before  1847,  and  appears  with  great  irregu- 
larity during  1851  and  1852,  also  in  most  of  the  charters  of 
1858  —  although  in  these,  only  five  miles  is  required.  Dur- 
ing 1851  and  1852,  those  requiring  five  and  those  requiring 
ten  miles,  seem  to  be  about  equally  divided. 

There  is  some  diversity  in  the  provisions  on  rates  in 
charters  granted  before  1850.  Those  of  1850  contain  no 
such  provisions,  and  there  is  an  almost  unbroken  uniform- 
ity in  those  granted  after  1850.  This  latter  uniformity  con- 
sists in  the  absence  of  any  and  all  restrictions  on  the  sub- 
ject of  rates.  The  first  charter  granted,  reserves  to  the 
legislature  the  power  to  limit  "  tolls  "  at  any  time.  The 
second  fixes  the  maximum  at  6  cents  per  passenger  mile 
and  15  cents  per  ton-mile,  for  goods.  The  third  is  like  the 
first.  The  fourth  makes  three  cents  per  mile  the  maximum 
for  passengers,  and  five  cents  per  ton-mile  for  freight; 
but  it  contains  the  additional  provision  that  for  all  trans- 
porters using  their  own  conveyances,  the  maximum  toll 
shall  be  one-and-a-half  cents  per  ton-mile.  The  first  char- 
ters granted  in  1847,  leave  the  fixing  of  rates  to  the  com- 
pany, but  the  legislature  may  alter  or  reduce  the  same, 
provided  that  such  reduction  causes  the  profits  of  the  com- 
pany not  to  fall  below  12  per  cent  per  annum  on  the  in- 
vestment. The  next  charter  which  was  granted,  introduced 
a  provision  which  appears  again  and  again :  "  On  the  com- 
pletion of  said  rail  road,  or  any  portion  of  the  track,  not 
less  than  ten  miles,  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  com- 
pany to  demand  and  receive  such  sum  or  sums  of  money, 
for  passage  and  freight  of  persons  and  property,  as  they 
shall  from  time  to  time  think  reasonable. "  This  section  ap- 
pears in  all  but  one  of  the  charters  granted  in  1853,  except 
that  only  five  miles  are  called  for;  while  ten  out  of  the 
fourteen  charters  granted  in  1852,  contain  no  special  pro- 
vision whatever  on  the  subject  of  rates,  and  one  of  those 
granted  during  that  year  seems  to  be  a  reversion  to  type, 
18 


274  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

for  it  contains  nearly  all  of  the  restrictive  clauses  of  one 
of  the  earliest  charters.  Nearly  all  the  charters,  whether 
they  contain  a  special  provision  or  not,  grant  to  the  board 
of  directors,  among  numerous  other  general  powers,  the 
power  to  regulate  tolls.  This  phrase  "  to  regulate  tolls, " 
and  to  establish  toll-houses,  is  persistently  retained  during 
the  entire  period. 

The  second  charter  granted  in  1853  (Michigan  &  Wiscon- 
sin Transit  R.  R.  Co.,  to  build  a  railroad  from  Manitowoc 
into  the  northern  peninsula  of  Michigan),  is  remarkable 
for  a  number  of  its  provisions,  not  the  least  of  which  is 
that  on  rates:  "And  said  company  shall  transport  mer- 
chandise, property,  and  persons  upon  said  Road  without 
partiality  or  favor,  and  with  all  practicable  dispatch,  under 
a  penalty  for  each  violation  of  this  provision  of  one  hundred 
dollars. "  Here  we  have  the  first  attempt  —  conscious  or 
unconscious  —  of  the  legislature  of  Wisconsin  to  prevent 
discriminations;  this  was  at  a  time  when  the  total  railroad 
mileage  of  the  State  was  89.27.  The  transportation  of 
marines,  soldiers,  sailors,  officers  of  the  United  States  army, 
ordnance,  military  stores,  munitions  of  war,  United  States 
mail,  etc.,  were  excepted  from  the  provisions  of  this  sec- 
tion. 

This  same  charter  provides  for  an  annual  report  to  the 
legislature.  The  provisions  governing  this  report  are  much 
more  definite  and  comprehensive  than  those  of  any  other 
charter  granted  during  the  period  under  consideration.  On 
or  before  a  fixed  date,  the  board  of  directors  shall  submit 
to  the  legislature  a  report  embracing  the  business  of  the 
preceding  year,  and  stating  the  total  length  of  the  road, 
cost  of  construction  and  operation,  indebtedness  for  cur- 
rent work,  capital  stock  actually  paid  in  and  subscribed, 
loans,  dividends,  receipts  from  freight  and  from  passenger 
service,  number  of  through  and  of  way  passengers,  ex- 
penditures for  repairs,  operation,  etc.,  number  of  cars  and 
engines,  number  of  men  employed,  train-miles,  etc.  The 
other  charters  which  contain  restrictive  clauses  on  rates, 
either  state  that  the  legislature  may  demand  a  report  at 


1836-53-]       WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  275 

any  time,  or  they  fix  a  date  on  or  before  which  the  board 
of  directors  shall  submit  such  a  report.  The  nature  and 
contents  of  this  report,  are  simply  hinted  at  in  the  most 
general  way.  Charters  which  contain  no  restrictive  pro- 
visions on  rates,  generally  call  for  a  report  of  the  board  of 
directors  to  the  stockholders  at  the  annual  meeting,  while 
a  considerable  number  contain  no  such  mandatory  pro- 
vision. 

Only  one  charter  expressly  makes  the  individual  stock- 
holder liable  for  the  debts  of  the  company,  to  the  amount 
of  the  stock  held  by  him.  A  considerable  number  of  char- 
ters declare  the  stock  to  be  personal  property,  and  then 
provide,  in  a  separate  section,  that  "  the  property  of  every 
individual  invested  in  the  corporation,  shall  be  liable  to 
be  taken  in  execution  for  the  payment  of  his  or  her  debts, 
in  such  manner  as  is,  or  may  be  provided  by  law ;  provided, 
that  all  debts  due  the  company  shall  first  be  paid. "  This,  of 
course,  applies  to  individual  and  not  to  corporate  debts. 
Corporate  debts  are  not  specifically  provided  for  in  the 
charters.  A  little  more  than  a  fourth  of  the  charters  make 
the  stock  subject  to  execution  for  private  debts,  like  other 
personal  property;  while  about  three-fourths  of  them  are 
silent  on  that  point.  One  of  the  companies  whose  charter 
contained  this  provision  on  the  liability  of  stock,  later  se- 
cured an  amendment  repealing  it,  so  that  the  stock  could 
no  longer  be  executed  for  private  debts.  To  what  extent 
the  general  laws  on  corporations  affected  stockholders, 
will  be  discussed  subsequently. 

Not  until  February  21,  1851,  was  the  charter  granted 
which  empowered  the  company  to  borrow  money.  It  is 
quite  probable  that  this  provision  was  incorporated  in  the 
charter  because  of  the  experience  of  the  Milwaukee  & 
Waukesha  (later  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi,  and  now  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul)  R.  R.  Co.,  whose  charter 
granted  February  11,  1847,  did  not  grant  this  power,  but 
who  secured  an  amendment,  February  11,  1851,  by  which 
that  company  was  authorized  to  borrow  money  "  for  any 
rate  of  interest  which  may  be  agreed  upon  by  and  between 


276  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

said  company,  and  any  person  or  party  of  whom  such  may 
be  obtained,  and  make  and  execute  in  their  name  all  neces- 
sary writings,  notes,  bonds,  or  other  papers,  and  make, 
execute  and  deliver  such  securities  in  amount  and  kind  as 
may  be  deemed  expedient  by  said  corporation,  any  law  on 
the  subject  of  usury  in  this  state  or  any  other  state  where  such 
transactions  may  be  made  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. "  This 
amendment  was  incorporated  verbatim  in  the  charters 
granted  during  1851  and  1852,  excepting,  of  course,  the 
iew  that  were  silent  on  this  matter;  and  several  of  these 
secured  a  grant  of  the  power  to  borrow  money  by  amend- 
ment. By  the  beginning  of  1853,  our  legislators  had  be- 
come less  imperious,  and  confined  their  attention  only  to 
the  usury  laws  of  this  state, — while  in  one  case,  the  usury 
laws  are  not  mentioned  at  all.  Another  charter,  like  the 
rest,  grants  unlimited  power  to  borrow  money,  but  restricts 
the  maximum  annual  rate  of  interest  to  12  per  cent. 

In  a  large  majority  of  charters  a  separate  section  pro- 
vides that  "  this  act  shall  be  favorably  construed  to  effect 
the  purposes  thereby  intended,  and  the  same  is  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  a  public  act,  and  copies  thereof  printed  by 
authority  of  the  territory  or  state,  shall  be  received  as 
evidence  thereof. "  * 

With  this,  we  have  exhausted  the  more  general  features 
of  the  charters.  It  remains  for  us  to  notice  those  provisions 
which  occur  in  only  a  few,  or  in  but  one  charter,  of  this 
period.  Foremost  among  these  stands  a  clause  prohibiting 
banking:  "  Nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  as 
in  any  way  giving  to  the  said  company  any  banking  priv- 
ileges whatever,  or  any  other  liberties,  privileges  or  fran- 
chises but  such  as  may  be  necessary  or  incident  to  the 
making  and  maintaining  of  said  railroad."  This  occurs  in 
a  charter  granted  early  in  1847.  Not  until  we  reach  that 
extraordinary  charter  of  1853,  to  which  reference  has  re- 
peatedly been  made,  does  a  similar  provision  appear.  In 
the  latter,  the  prohibition  is  wider  in  scope:  "Nothing 

1  Such  a  provision  does  not  make  the  charter  containing  it,  a  public  act. 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  277 

contained  in  this  act  shall  extend  or  be  construed  to 
authorize  the  said  company  to  carry  on  the  business  of 
banking,  brokerage,  dealing  in  produce  or  other  business, 
except  what  properly  belongs  to  a  railroad  and  transpor- 
tation company,  as  in  this  act  provided."  The  history  of 
the  Wisconsin  Marine  &  Fire  Insurance  Company  furnishes 
an  explanation  of  the  incorporation  of  anti-banking  clauses 
in  several  railroad  charters.  Section  2  of  the  charter  of 
the  insurance  company,  authorized  the  company  to  receive 
deposits  and  to  make  loans  under  certain  conditions  pre- 
scribed in  the  charter,  "or  other  satisfactory  security," 
and  to  employ  its  capital  in  various  ways  specified  in  the 
charter  or  "  in  any  other  monied  transactions  or  operations 
for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  company. " l  Although  the  con- 
cluding sentence  of  this  section  expressly  prohibited  bank- 
ing, the  company  issued  bills  in  small  sums,  varying  from 
$1  to  $5,  under  guise  of  certificates  of  deposit.  The  crisis 
came  in  1846,  when  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  legislature 
repealing  the  charter  of  the  company.  This  bill  involves 
constitutional  and  legal  questions  which,  although  ex- 
tremely interesting,  can  not  be  discussed  here.  The  op- 
position to  the  insurance  company  was  based  largely  on 
constitutional  grounds,  but  there  were  also  those  who 
feared  that  the  company  would  not  redeem  its  bills.  The 
excitement  was  great,  and  when  Alexander  Mitchell,  the 
secretary  of  the  company,  sent  a  communication  to  the 
legislature,  attempting  to  explain  matters,  and  offering 
"  to  give  any  further  personal  security  the  legislature 
might  see  fit  to  exact  in  order  to  secure  their  issues,"  a 
motion  to  return  the  communication  to  him  was  lost  by  a 
majority  of  but  two  votes,  the  house  refusing  "  to  show  any 
such  small  spite. " 2  With  these  extraordinary  scenes  fresh 

1  The  charter  of  the  company  is  found  in  the  Laws  of   Wis.,  1839, 
p.  64  ff — the  last   half    of  section  2  containing   the   disputed  provision. 
See  also  newspapers,  especially  Sentinel,  from  about  January  15  to  March 
1, 1846;  Strong's  History  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  p.  491;  and  House 
Journal,  Wis.  Legis.,  1839,  index. 

2  Sentinel,  January  27,  1846. 


278  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

in  mind,  it  was  not  strange  that  our  legislators  should  have 
attempted  to  prohibit  the  exercise  of  similar  powers  by 
the  railroad  corporations.  But  the  question  at  once  arises, 
why  was  it  that  only  one  charter  contained  such  a  prohib- 
itory clause,  and  that  a  charter  representing  Milwaukee 
interests,  granted  within  ten  days  of  the  other,  should  not 
even  mention  the  subject  of  banking?  The  question  raised 
another  storm,  though  less  severe,  in  1851,  when  it  was 
alleged  that  the  Rock  River  Valley  Union  R.  R.  Co.  had 
already  ordered  plates  for  printing  bills,  and  that  certain 
amendments  secured  by  railroad  companies  to  their  char- 
ters granted  banking  privileges.1  So  far  as  I  know,  no 
railroad  company  ever  succeeded  in  imitating  the  example 
of  the  Wisconsin  Marine  &  Fire  Insurance  Company. 

Seven  charters  contain  provisions  for  the  use  of  the  rail- 
road (track)  by  different  transporters.  Five  of  these  au- 
thorize any  person  "  using  suitable  and  proper  carriages" 
to  use  the  railroad  on  payment  of  the  legal  toll ;  and  in  one 
case,  as  was  stated  above,  a  maximum  rate  for  such  use  was 
prescribed  by  the  charter.  The  oft-quoted  charter  of  1853 
says  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  person  to  transmit 
goods  or  passengers  over  that  road,  without  the  permission 
or  license  of  the  company ;  while  a  charter  of  1852  provides 
for  the  reciprocal  use  of  the  railroads,  cars,  engines,  etc., 
by  the  road  chartered  by  that  act,  and  all  other  roads  with 
which  it  connects.  Each  is  to  allow  trains  of  the  other  to 
travel  over  its  tracks  on  terms  agreed  upon  by  the  officers 
of  the  respective  companies;  and  in  case  of  a  disagreement 
as  to  the  terms  of  such  reciprocal  use,  either  party  may 
appeal  to  the  judge  of  the  supreme  court,  who  shall  ap- 
point commissioners  under  whose  direction  proper  terms 
shall  be  arranged.2 

1  Sentinel,  July  17  and  August  21,  1851,  editorials  and  quotations. 

2  We  should  notice  in  this  connection  that  these  charters  provide,  not 
for  railroads  with  locomotives    as    we    know    them,    but  are   concerned 
simply  with  rail  roads  as  distinguished  from  turnpikes,  macadams,  or 
plankroads.     What  we  term  a  "  street  car  "  (tramway)  would  be  a  railroad 
within  the  meaning  of  all  these  charters.    They  expressely  state  that  the 


1836-53-]       WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  279 

We  have  already  seen  how  the  charters  vary  as  to  the 
right  of  making  connections.  One  charter  authorizes  the 
supreme  court,  on  the  appeal  of  the  company,  to  appoint 
three  commissioners  who  shall  arrange  the  terms  on  which 
that  company  may  connect  with  any  other  railroad, in  case  the 
latter  should  refuse  to  permit  such  connection  to  be  made.  A 
charter  of  1848  permits  the  company  to  build  the  road  by 
sections.  Several  later  charters  contain  the  same  provis- 
ion, while  others  embody  it  by  amendment.  A  charter  of 
1839  reserves  to  the  Territory,  or  future  State,  the  power 
to  purchase  the  road  at  any  time,  on  payment  of  the  full  cost 
of  construction  and  equipment,  including  7  per  cent  on  the 
total  outlay.  That  same  charter  contains  the  provision 
that  in  case  of  the  refusal  of  any  newspaper  to  publish 
certain  prescribed  notices,  such  notices  shall  be  given  by 
"  affixing  the  same  to  the  door  of  the  court  house  of  said 
county."  This  would  indicate  a  peculiar  relation  existing 
between  the  contemporary  press  and  these  railroad  projects. 
Beginning  with  1848,  an  occasional  charter  demands  an  es- 
timate of  the  cost  of  construction  of  each  mile  separately. 
In  several  instances,  this  clause  was  repealed  by  subse- 
quent amendments.  A  few  of  the  earlier,  and  most  of  the 
later,  charters  require  the  company  to  build  a  fence  on 
both  sides  of  the  track,  while  in  a  number  of  cases  this 
duty  is  imposed  by  amendment.  One  of  the  earlier  amend- 
ments (1850)  prohibits  the  issuing  of  injunctions  except  on 
ten  days'  notice.  In  isolated  cases,  claims  for  wages  of 
labor,  and  costs  of  material,  shall  be  a  lien  on  the  property 
of  the  company.  One  charter  gives  claims  for  unpaid  taxes 
the  first,  and  individual  claims  the  second  lien  on  corpo- 
rate property.  And  another  charter  —  incorporating  a 
company  to  build  a  road  of  minor  significance  —  provides 
that  the  personal  and  real  property  of  the  company  shall 
be  taxed  in  like  manner  as  is  individual  property.  A 

company  shall  have  power  u  to  transport,  take  and  carry  property  and  per- 
sons upon  the  same  "  (i.  e.,  upon  the  "  single  or  double  track  rail  road  "), 
"  by  the  power  and  force  of  steam,  of  animals,  or  of  any  mechanical  or 
other  power,  or  any  combination  of  them." 


280  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

charter  of  1851  forbids  the  company  to  build  the  rail- 
road "  through  any  garden,  orchard,  or  building  without 
having  first  obtained  the  consent "  of  the  owner.  That 
is,  if  the  owner  objected  to  the  railroad,  he  could  force 
the  company  to  build  around  his  "garden,  orchard,  or 
building."  Two  years  later,  this  clause  was  repealed  by 
amendment.  Only  in  isolated  instances  do  the  charters  speak 
of  depots,  station-houses,  etc., — toll-houses,  tolls,  toll-regu- 
lations, being  the  words  used  instead.  Having  now  seen 
what  the  charters  contain  and  wherein  they  differ,  we  shall 
next  notice  what  they  do  not  contain. 

3.    What  the  charters  do  not  contain. 

A  full  discussion  of  the  problems  involved  in  this  sec- 
tion, would  lead  us  into  a  detailed  analysis  of  our  entire 
railroad  history;  no  such  attempt  will  be  made.  The  rail- 
road industry  presents  features  peculiarly  its  own,  and  all 
that  will  be  attempted  here  is  to  point  out,  in  a  general 
way,  in  what  respects  the  charters  do  not  meet  the  peculiar 
demands  of  that  industry.  At  the  time  when  railroad 
building  was  begun  in  Wisconsin,  the  subject  had  been  be- 
fore the  public  for  twenty  years,  and  the  results  of  the  ex- 
perience of  other  countries,  as  well  as  of  the  older  sections 
of  our  own  country,  were  available  to  our  legislators.  Par- 
liamentary debates  and  statesmanlike  discussions  on  rail- 
roads, covering  every  phase  of  the  entire  field  as  it  then 
existed,  had  been  published  in  every  great  country  of 
Europe.  This  section  will  indicate  to  what  extent  the  leg- 
islators of  Wisconsin  did  not  avail  themselves  of  this  infor- 
mation, just  as  the  previous  sections  have  told  us  to  what 
extent  they  did  embody  in  their  own  legislation  the  provis- 
ions of  the  best  legislation  of  other  States. 

In  the  first  place,  it  would  seem  self-evident  that  the 
proposed  railroads  should  serve  public  interests,  and  that 
objective  proof  should  be  offered  to  show  that  this  would 
be  the  case.  Reliable  information  as  to  the  movement  of 
persons  and  goods  between  the  places  and  along  the  route 
of  the  projected  roads,  would  be  necessary  for  a  proper 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  281 

conception  of  the  purely  business  point-of-view  of  the  un- 
dertaking. Accurate  technical  information  would  be  indis- 
pensable for  even  approximate  estimates  of  costs,  and  for 
an  intelligent  decision  on  the  practicability  of  the  project. 
On  these  matters,  the  charters  are  silent.  But  not  only 
must  the  financial  interests  of  the  company  immediately 
involved  be  considered;  the  railroad  already  constructed  or 
projected  should  weigh  heavily  in  deliberations  over  new 
charters.  A  railroad  powerfully  affects  existing  condi- 
tions, and  the  good  and  evil  effects  of  a  new  line  should 
be  carefully  formulated.  Prosperous  existing  roads  may  be 
crippled,  and  other  sound  industrial  conditions  severely 
shaken,  by  the  indiscriminate  granting  of  charters  for 
new  roads.  The  possible  effect  on  all  existing  economic 
interests  should  be  a  powerful  factor  in  deciding  on  the 
merits  of  new  projects.  I  have  been  unable  to  find  a  rec- 
ord of  even  superficial  deliberation  along  these  lines,  be- 
yond isolated  conjectures  of  frenzied  enthusiasts  and  glil> 
phrases  of  selfish  designers.  Now  and  then  there  is  an 
echo  of  a  voice  of  warning,  but  the  charters  contain  not 
even  a  suggestion  of  the  results  of  deliberation. 

There  are  no  great  mountains  in  Wisconsin,  nor  have  we 
extended  morasses  and  wastes.  The  technical  difficulties 
of  railroading  in  Wisconsin  are  not  serious.  Yet,  such  as 
they  are,  every  route  has  its  technical  problems,  and  no 
estimate  of  costs  can  be  taken  seriously  unless  these  have 
been  carefully  determined  for  every  rod  of  the  way.  And 
how  can  the  amount  of  the  capital  stock  authorized  by  the 
charter  be  anything  but  a  mere  guess,  so  long  as  our  legis- 
lators have  absolutely  no  means  of  knowing  the  expense 
involved  in  executing  the  project  for  which  they  fix  the 
amount  of  stock  in  the  charter? 

We  have  seen  that  in  a  few  charters  an  estimate  of  costs 
for  each  separate  mile  was  called  for.  and  that  in  one  in- 
stance this  provision  was  repealed.  But  granted  that  every 
charter  had  embodied  the  same  provision,  what  would  have 
been  gained?  Who  was  legally  responsible  for  such  an 
estimate?  Just  what  should  such  an  estimate  include? 


282  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.xiv. 

To  whom  should  the  report  be  sent,  and  what  authority 
had  power  to  accept  or  reject  it?  Who  was  to  coerce 
the  projectors  into  doing  their  duty  in  this  respect, 
and  who  could  legally  interpose  and  prevent  the  execution 
of  the  project  in  case  the  estimates  had  not  been  properly 
made?  We  need  but  suggest  these  questions,  in  order  to 
expose  the  utter  inadequacy  of  charter  provisions. 

A  few  charters  demanded  a  small  payment  on  stock  at 
the  time  of  subscription.  The  great  majority  of  them  pro- 
vided for  a  similar  payment  before  the  company  could  or- 
ganize and  enter  into  existence  as  a  legal  body.  Who  was 
there  to  enforce  these  provisions?  Who  could  give  assur- 
ance that  every  subscriber  paid  what  was  required  of  oth- 
ers,—  especially  when  we  find  a  certain  group  of  men  act- 
ing as  commissioners  in  half  a  dozen  or  more  projects  in. 
volving  a  total  outlay,  in  their  execution,  of  many  millions? 
And  what  security  was  ever  given  (or  asked)  by  the  incor- 
porators,  for  the  faithful  performance  of  charter  duties? 
And  in  case  the  road  was  ever  built,  upon  whom  could 
stockholders,  not  actively  engaged  in  the  construction,  call 
for  a  reliable  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  road  when 
it  was  opened  for  traffic? 

In  a  time  when  every  other  project  "  guarantees  "  15  per 
cent  annually,  some  provision  should  be  made  for  the 
future.  Prudent  business  management  accumulates  a  re- 
serve for  reverses.  Accidents  may  cause  losses,  and  the 
elements  may  ruin  tracks  and  equipments.  Even  without 
business  reverses  and  destructive  floods  and  storms,  the 
rolling  stock  will  wear  out,  and  the  superstructure  as  well 
as  the  road-bed  need  repairs.  Without  proper  foresight, 
an  unfortunate  coincidence  of  several  of  these  negative 
forces  may  embarrass  or  even  disable  a  railroad.  Then 
there  is  capital  stock,  and  the  bonds,  which  should  grad- 
ually be  paid  off.  Yet  not  a  single  charter  provides  for  the 
accumulation  of  a  renewal,  building,  reserve,  amortization 
or  sinking  fund. 

The  subject  of  expropriation  is,  perhaps,  more  than  any 
other,  extensively  considered  in  the  charters.  In  another 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  283 

place,  we  shall  see  in  what  manner  the  right  was  executed. 
The  charters  require  the  railroad  company  to  put  highways 
which  they  cross,  in  as  good  a  condition  as  they  had  been 
before.  Who  had  authority  to  decide  on  the  condition  of 
these  highways,  or  what  tribunal  was  authorized  to  hear 
complaints?  A  considerable  number  of  charters  do  not  re- 
serve to  the  legislature  the  right  to  annul  them  in  case  of 
a  violation  of  their  provisions.  And  was  it  not  argued,  as 
in  case  of  the  Marine  &  Fire  Insurance  Company,  that  a 
charter  containing  no  such  reservation  was  a  contract,  and 
could  not  be  repealed  by  the  legislature?  Then,  what 
remedy  was  there  for  even  the  grossest  violation  of  char- 
ter privileges? 

Most  of  the  charters  authorize  connections  with  other 
roads;  but  only  a  single  charter  names  an  authority  which 
may  force  another  railroad  to  permit  a  junction  with  a  road 
desiring  such  connection.  Was  it  possible,  under  these 
conditions,  ever  to  operate  the  railroads  as  a  system?  Is 
not  the  idea  of  a  system  fundamental  in  every  rational  or- 
dering of  railway  transportation? 

We  have  seen,  in  the  preceding  section,  what  charter 
provisions  were  enacted  on  the  subject  of  rates.  To  discuss 
what  was  not  provided  for,  would  involve  everything  that 
should  have  been  provided  for.  The  matter  of  railroad 
crossings,  safety  appliances,  and  other  precautionary  meas- 
ures, regularity  and  uniformity  of  reports,  and  various 
other  phases  of  railroading  which  have  been  so  prominent 
for  many  years  in  the  past,  will  not  be  discussed  here. 
Enough  has  been  given  to  illustrate  the  relation  of  legis- 
lative enactments  to  railroads,  as  they  existed  at  that  time, 
and  to  show  that  our  early  legislators  did  not  greatly  exert 
themselves  in  order  to  profit  by  the  experience  of  others. 
They  themselves  might  have  encountered  difficulties  in  at- 
tempting to  explain  why  two  charters,  granted  the  same 
day,  should  have  embodied  such  different,  and  often  diverse, 
principles;  or,  why  a  company  incorporated  on  Monday 
should  have  been  entrusted  with  latitudinous  powers,  while 
a  similar  act  on  Saturday  should  have  placed  restrictions 


284  WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

on  that  same  power,  although  it  was  to  be  exercised  under 
identical  conditions. 

4.   Sources  of  tJie  charters.     Summary. 

Were  we  to  take  one  charter  granted  by  Massachusetts, 
another  by  New  York,  by  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  South 
Carolina,  Michigan,  and  Illinois,  and  cut  all  these  up  in  such 
a  way  that  each  clipping  should  contain  one  charter  pro- 
vision ;  were  we  to  put  clippings  containing  like  provisions 
into  the  same  box,  shake  them  up,  and  then,  blindfolded, 
pick  out  one  clipping  from  each  box,  the  clipping  thus  held 
in  the  hand  could  easily  be  arranged  in  such  a  way  as  to 
compose  a  railroad  charter  which  in  all  essentials  would 
be  similar  to  those  granted  during  that  period  by  the  leg- 
islature of  Wisconsin.  Even  though  half-a-dozen  or  a 
dozen  boxes  had  not  been  touched,  the  resulting  charter 
might  still  be  made  quite  as  complete  as  a  number  of  Wis- 
consin charters. 

Were  I  to  name  the  charters  of  any  one  State  which 
served  as  a  model  for  Wisconsin  charters,  I  should  specify 
Pennsylvania,  although  New  York  comes  almost  as  near. 
One  Wisconsin  charter1  is  clearly  modeled  on  the  charter 
of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad ;  or  rather,  I  should  say  that  it 
is  a  mutilated  edition  of  that  charter.  Like  most  of  the  Wis- 
consin charters,  the  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  charters 
name  a  number  of  persons  who  act  as  commissioners,  un- 
der whose  direction  a  "body  politic"  is  organized;  while 
the  charters  of  New  York  name,  in  the  first  section,  a  num- 
ber of  persons  who  are  declared  to  be  "  a  body  politic, " 
and  in  a  subsequent  section  the  commissioners  are  named. 
Vermont  charters  declare  future  stockholders  a  "  body  cor- 
porate."  Both  New  York  and  Vermont  forms  appear  in 
Wisconsin  charters,  but  the  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland 
form  is  much  more  general.  In  Illinois,  both  the  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania  forms  appear,  while  the  legislature  of  In- 
diana formed  a  precedent  for  Wisconsin  in  granting  to  her 
railroads  the  right  of  way  through  State  (swamp)  lands. 

JFond  du  Lac  &  Sheboygan. 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  285 

The  provision  prohibiting  banking,  brokerage,  dealing  in 
produce,  etc.,  had  its  counterpart  in  earlier  Michigan  and 
Illinois  charters.  We  have  seen  that  a  large  number  of 
Wisconsin  charters  made  it  obligatory  for  appraisers  to 
consider  both  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  accruing 
to  owners.  Similar  provisions  are  found  in  the  charters 
of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  South  Carolina,  and  some  of 
those  of  Massachusetts,  but  not  in  those  of  New  York. 

The  words  "  toll, "  "  to  regulate  toll, "  occur  in  all  the 
charters  of  other  states  which  I  have  examined,  as  does 
the  expression  "  to  transport  and  carry  property  and  per- 
sons upon  the  same,  by  the  power  and  force  of  steam  or 
animals,  or  of  any  mechanical  power,  or  of  any  combination 
of  such  power  and  force,"  or  equivalent  expressions.1  As 
we  shall  see  later,  the  history  of  Wisconsin  charters,  like 
the  history  of  the  charters  of  her  sister  States,  begins  with 
the  English  canal  legislation  of  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  But  as  early  as  1840 2  English  law  re- 
stricted the  use  of  the  word  railway  so  as  to  exclude  tram- 
ways. "The  word  railway  *  *  *  shall  be  construed  to 
extend  to  all  rail  ways  constructed  under  the  powers  of  any 
Act  of  Parliament,  and  intended  for  the  conveyance  of  pas- 
sengers in  or  upon  carriages  drawn  or  impelled  by  the  power 
of  steam  or  by  any  other  mechanical  power."  Wisconsin 
charters  follow  the  precedent  set  by  the  charters  of  at 
least  a  dozen  States,  in  prescribing  regulations  for  the  use 
of  the  railroad  by  different  transporters  and  in  giving  to 
the  company  the  power  to  determine  what  kinds  of  carriages 
shall  be  used.  This  also  is  a  contribution  of  English  law, 
similar  provisions  having  been  embodied  in  the  Liverpool  & 
Manchester  charter,  and  even  in  the  Railways  Clauses  Act 
of  1845 :  "  And  upon  payment  of  the  tolls  from  time  to 
time  demandable  all  companies  and  persons  shall  be  en- 
titled to  use  the  railway  with  engines  and  carriages  prop- 

1  This,  however,  was  more  than  fiction,  for  the  earliest  American  railroads 
were  operated  by  horses,   mules,  stationary  engines,  or  by  mere  force  of 
gravity. 

2  Rail  way  Regulation  Act,  1840,  §  21. 


286  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.xiv. 

erly  constructed  " — 3  92;  "  No  carriage  shall  pass  along  or 
be  upon  the  railway  *  *  *  unless  such  carriage  be  at 
all  times,  so  long  as  it  shall  be  used  or  shall  remain  on  the 
railway,  of  the  construction  and  in  the  condition  which  the 
regulations  of  the  company  for  the  time  being  shall  re- 
quire " —  I  1 17.  *  An  early  English  work 2  contains  a  descrip- 
tion of  carriages  "  which  are  intended  to  be  transferred 
from  the  Rail- way  wheels  to  others  capable  of  travelling  on 
streets. "  In  passing,  we  may  notice  that  one  of  the  strong 
arguments  advanced  in  Germany  against  railroads  was, 
that  the  railway  coaches  could  not  be  used  on  the  chausste 
or  vice  versa. 

Allowing  each  share  one  vote,  seems  to  have  been  the 
general  custom,  although  the  one  exception  we  have  no- 
ticed in  Wisconsin  charters  finds  its  counterpart  in  char- 
ters of  South  Carolina,  which  outline  a  system  of  voting 
according  to  the  formula:  Any  person  holding  not  less 
than  x  nor  more  than  y  shares,  shall  be  entitled  to  z  votes. 
Wisconsin  charter  clauses  fixing  maximum  rates  find  their 
counterpart  in  charters  of  Maine,  Pennsylvania,  and  Mas- 
sachusetts; those  of  Maine  being  worded  more  nearly  like 
those  of  Wisconsin,  than  the  others.  In  many  of  the 
charters  of  other  States,  I  find  legislative  reservations 
authorizing  the  State  to  purchase  the  road,  and  to  change 
or  to  alter  rates.  In  New  Hampshire,  where  general  legisla- 
tion was  early  enacted,  a  charter  was  granted3  which  re- 
served to  the  legislature  the  right  to  repeal  the  same 
"whenever  in  the  opinion  of  the  legislature  the  public 
good  shall  require  it."  Some  Massachusetts  charters  for- 
bid the  building  of  competitive  lines  within  a  certain  time. 
Provisions  covering  expropriation  are  similar  in  the  differ- 
ent States.  Vermont  charters  provide  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  appraisers  by  any  two  judges  of  the  supreme 
court.  But  these  supreme  judges  were  county  officers,  and 

1  Railways  Clauses  Act,  of  1845. 

2  Wood's  Practical  Treatise  on  Railroads  (Amer.  ed.,  Phila.,   1832), 
chap.  iii. 

3  Laws  of  N.  H.,  1841,  p.  582. 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  287 

it  seems  probable,  as  we  have  already  noticed  (p.  271),. 
that  Wisconsin  charters  embodied  like  provisions  without 
taking  notice  of  the  difference  between  the  supreme  court 
in  Wisconsin  and  the  court  of  that  name  in  Vermont. 
Maine  charters  mention  county  commissioners;  when  Wis- 
consin charters  designate  the  same  officers,  it  is  probable 
that  similar  differences  were  not  noticed.  At  any  rate, 
when,  as  is  the  case  in  several  Wisconsin  charters,  a 
number  of  different  authorities  are  named,  any  one  of 
whom  may  perform  the  same  function,  it  looks  as  though 
charter  provisions  of  several  other  States  had  been  consol- 
idated to  form  a  very  loose  provision  in  a  Wisconsin 
charter;  else,  how  could  a  charter  assign  duties  to  "  county 
commissioners,"  when  neither  the  constitution  of  Wiscon- 
sin nor  the  statutes  provide  for  such  officers.  The  great 
majority  of  Wisconsin  charters  are  more  definite;  these 
exceptional  cases,  however,  serve  to  illustrate  legislative 
methods.  Calling  upon  any  justice  of  the  peace  to  issue  a 
warrant  for  the  sheriff  to  summon  a  jury  for  the  purpose 
of  making  appraisals,  seems  to  have  been  a  very  general 
provision  of  charters  of  other  States.  This  is  the  method 
adopted  by  the  earliest  Wisconsin  charters;  while  almost 
all  the  later  charters  call  upon  the  circuit  judge  to  appoint 
appraisers. 

It  would  be  a  tedious  task  to  follow  out  this  comparison 
in  all  its  details.  The  "  forms  "  of  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania charters  have  been  spoken  of;  but,  after  all,  such 
"  forms  "  exist  only  in  a  limited  sense.  On  the  whole,  the 
charters  of  these  States  are  much  alike,  and  Wisconsin 
charters  differ  from  those  of  either,  largely  in  the  omis- 
sion of  restrictive  clauses,  and  in  having  been  drawn  up 
with  apparent  lack  of  care.  Charters  of  States  like  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Maryland,  show  greater  care  in  their  con- 
struction, and  are  more  restrictive.  But  the  similarity  ex- 
isting among  the  charters  of  all  the  States,  which  I  have 
examined,  is  so  great  as  to  indicate  at  a  glance  their  com- 
mon origin.  They  may  have  become  mutilated  and  more 
loosely  constructed  in  their  march  westward,  but  they  never 


288 


WISCONSIN    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  XIV. 


lose  the  character  of  their  English  prototypes.  It  is  toward 
these,  that  we  will  now  turn  our  attention. 

In  order,  in  brief  space,  to  indicate  properly  the  connec- 
tion between  our  own  and  the  English  charters,  a  series  of 
parallel  readings  is  here  introduced.  The  first  column  con- 
tains extracts  from  the  charter  of  the  Liverpool  &  Manchester 
Rail  Road,  granted  by  parliament  on  May  5,  1826;  and  the 
second  contains  corresponding  parts  of  Wisconsin  railroad 
charters,  the  numbers  in  parentheses  indicating  the  corre- 
sponding number  of  the  charter,  in  the  appended  digest, 
from  which  the  extract  is  taken: 


1.  Whereas  the  making  and  main- 
taining of  a  Railway    *    *    *    from 


*  * 
* 


or  near  the  town  of  Liverpool  * 
to  the  town  of  Manchester  *  * 
will  be  of  great  Advantage  to  the 
Inhabitants  of  the  said  County, 
Towns,  and  Places  *  *  *  ;  and 

*  *    *    will  be  of  great  public  Util- 
ity   *    *    *    And  whereas  the  sev- 
eral Persons  herein-after  named  are 
willing  and  desirous,  at   their  own 
Costs  and  Charges,  to   make    and 
maintain  such  a  Railway  or  Tram- 
road 'and  Branches;  but  the  same  can 
not  be  effected  without  the  Aid  and 
Authority  of    Parliament:     May    it 
therefore  please  Your  Majesty  that 
it  may  be  enacted    *    *    * 

2.  That  the  Most  Noble  George 
Granville  Marquess  of , , , 

*  *    *    and    all    and  every  other 
Person  or  Persons,  Body  and  Bodies 
Politic    and    Corporate,  who    shall 
hereafter  become  Subscribers  to  the 
said  Undertaking,  and  their  several 
and  respective    Successors,  Execu- 
tors,   Administrators,   and  Assigns, 
shall  be  and  hereby  are  united  into 
a  Company  for  making,  completing, 
and  maintaining   the  said   Railway 

*  *    *    and  for  that  Purpose  shall 


1.  Whereas,  it  hath    been  repre- 
sented by ,  in  his  memorial  to 

the  legislature,  that  a  railroad  from 
Philadelphia  to  Columbia  would 
greatly  facilitate  the  transport  be- 
tween those  two  places,  suggesting 
also  that  he  hath  made  important 
improvements  in  the  construction  of 
rail  ways;  and  praying  that  in  order 
to  carry  such  beneficial  purposes 
into  effect  himself  and  his  associates 
may  be  *  *  *  [Acts  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  Penn.,  1822-23, 
chap.  5407,  passed  March  31,  1823. 
Book  no.  xix,  p.  353.] 


2.  That    James     M.    Kane, , 

*  *  *  together  with  *  *  *  such 
other  persons,  as  may  hereafter  be- 
come associated  with  them  in  the 
manner  hereafter  prescribed,  their 
successors  and  assigns,  be  and  they 
are  hereby  created  a  body  corporate, 
by  the  name  of  the  "  Pekatonica  and 
Mississippi  Rail  Road  Company," 
and  by  that  name  shall  be,  and  are 
hereby  made  capable  in  law  to  pur- 
chase, hold  and  enjoy  and  retain  to 
them  and  their  successors,  lands, 


WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION. 


289 


be  one  Body  Corporate,  by  the  Name 
and  Style  of  "The  Liverpool  and 
Manchester  Railway  Company,"  and 
by  that  Name  shall  and  may  sue  and 
be  sued;  and  the  said  Company 
shall  have  Power  and  Authority, 
from  and  after  the  passing  of  this 
Act,  and  at  all  Times  thereafter,  to 
purchase  and  hold  Lands  and  Her- 
editaments to  them  and  their  Suc- 
cessors and  Assigns,  for  the  Use  of 
the  said  Undertaking  and  Works,  and 
also  to  sell  and  dispose  of  the  said 
X*ands  and  Hereditaments  again,  in 
manner  by  this  act  Directed,  with- 
out incurring  any  of  the  Penalties  or 
Forfeitures  of  the  Statute  of  Mort- 
main. 

3.  That  for  the  Purposes  of  this 
Act  the  said  Company,  their  Dep- 
uties, Servants,  Agents,  Surveyors, 
and  Workmen,  shall  be  and  they  are 
hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to 
enter  into  and  upon  the  Lands  and 
Grounds  of  any  Body  Politic,  Corpor- 
ate, or  Collegiate  whatsoever,  accord- 
ing to  the  Provisions  and  Directions 
of  this  Act,  and  to  survey  and  take 
Levels    of    the    same    or    any  Part 
thereof; 

4.  That  the  Lands  and  Grounds  to 
be  taken  or  used  for  the  Purposes  of 
this  Act  shall  not  exceed  Twenty- 
two  Yards  in  Breadth,  except   *    *  * 

5.  Said    Verdicts  and  Judgments 

*  *     *    shall  be  kept  by  the  Clerk 
of  the  Peace  for  the  County  in  which 
the    matter  of  Dispute   shall  have 
arisen,    among   the   records  of    the 
Quarter  Sessions  for  such  County, 
and     shall     be     deemed      Records 

*  *     * 

6.  That  in  every  Case  where  the 
Verdict    *     *     *    shall  be  given  for 

19 


tenements,  and  hereditaments  so  far 
as  may  be  necessary  for  the  purpose 
of  said  rail  road,  and  the  same  to 
sell,  grant,  rent  or  in  any  manner  dis- 
pose of,  to  contract  and  be  contracted 
with,  sue  and  be  sued,  implead  and 
be  impleaded,  answer  and  be  answer- 
ed, defend  and  be  defended,  and 
also  to  make,  have  and  use  a  common 
seal,  and  the  same  to  alter,  break  or 
renew  at  their  pleasure  *  *  *  (4) 


3.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  said  com- 
pany, their  officers,  engineers,  and 
agents,  to  enter  upon  any  land  for 
the  purpose  of  exploring,  surveying, 
and  locating  the  route  of  said  railroad, 
doing  thereto  no  unnecessary  dam- 


age 


(28) 


4.  It    shall    be    lawful    for    them 

*  *     *     to  enter  upon,  take  posses- 
sion of,  and  use  such  lands,  to  the 
width  of  four  rods  (except  *  *  *).    (7) 

5.  And    shall    return    the    same 

*  *     *     to  the  clerk  of  the  circuit 
court  of  the  county  in  which  they 
reside,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  said  clerk  to  file  the  same.    (32) 


6.  And  if  the  amount  so  found  for 
such     claimant    shall     exceed    the 


2QO 


WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 


a  greater  Sum  than  shall  have  been 
previously  offered  or  tendered  by 
the  said  Company  *  *  *  all  the 
Costs  *  *  *  andExpence  *  *  * 
shall  be  defrayed  by  the  said  Com- 
pany. 

7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That 
this  act  shall  be  deemed  and  taken 
to  be  a  Public  Act,  and  shall  be  ju- 
dicially taken  notice  of  as  such  by 
all  Judges,  Justices,  and  others, 
without  being  specially  pleaded. 


amount  (previously  offered)  then 
judgment  shall  be  rendered  against 
said  company  for  costs.  (7) 


7.  This  act  shall  be  construed  fa- 
vorably to  effect  the  purposes  hereby 
intended,  and  the  same  is  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  a  public  act,  and  copies 
thereof  printed  by  authority  of  the 
State  of  Wisconsin  shall  be  received 
as  evidence  thereof.  (22) 


Numerous  other  striking  resemblances  might  be  traced. 
Limitations  on  the  amount  of  land  which  the  company  can 
hold,  and  the  manner  of  disposing  of  the  same,  purchasing 
land  from  incapacitated  persons,  voting  by  proxy,  fixing 
time  of  meeting,  and  the  number  and  powers  of  directors, 
responsibility  of  the  railroad  officials  to  the  board  of  direct- 
ors, the  power  of  the  general  meeting  of  stockholders  over 
the  directors,  limitations  on  the  time  and  amount  of  calls 
on  shares,  completion  of  the  road  within  a  specified  time, — 
provisions  on  all  these  subjects  are  also  much  alike.  The 
Liverpool  &  Manchester  charter  allows  each  share,  up  to 
twenty,  one  vote,  and  an  additional  vote  for  every  four 
shares  above  twenty.  This  was  not  common  to  Wisconsin 
charters,  although  the  same  principle  is  involved  in  South 
Carolina  charters.  Among  the  200  sections  of  the  Liver- 
pool &  Manchester  charter,  we  find  a  number  which  indi- 
cate an  imperfect  knowledge  of  railroads,  due  to  lack  of  ex- 
perience. Thus  it  contains  long  and  minute  provisions  for 
the  use  of  the  railroad  by  second  parties.  This,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  retained  in  a  number  of  Wisconsin  charters.  But 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  provisions  was  that  which 
held  the  operators  of  trains  responsible  for  closing  gatea 
built  across  the  railroad  track :  "  And  be  it  further  en- 
acted, That  all  Persons  opening  any  Gate  set  up  across  the 
said  Railway  or  Tramroad  shall,  and  he,  she,  and  they  is 
and  are  hereby  required,  as  soon  as  he,  she,  or  they,  and 


1836-53.]       WISCONSIN    RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  2QI 

the  Waggon  or  other  Carriage  under  the  Care  of  such  Per- 
son or  Persons,  shall  have  passed  through  the  same,  to 
shut  and  fasten  the  said  Gate;  and  every  Person  neglect- 
ing so  to  do  shall  forfeit  and  pay  for  every  such  Offence 
any  Sum  not  exceeding  Forty  Shillings,  to  be  levied  and 
recovered  as  herein-after  mentioned;  and  the  Money  aris- 
ing by  such  Forfeiture  or  Forfeitures  shall  be  applied  in 
the  manner  following ;  that  is  to  say,  One  Half  Part  thereof 
shall  be  paid  to  the  Informer,  and  the  Residue  thereof  to 
the  Poor  of  the  Township  or  Parish  wherein  such  Offence 
shall  be  committed" —  (sec.  clxx).  Curiosities  of  this  kind 
could  easily  be  multiplied.  The  Liverpool  &  Manchester 
charter  prescribed  rates  and  provided  for  their  publication. 
It  also  provided  for  a  contingencies  and  reserve  fund. 
These  provisions,  unfortunately,  slipped  out  of  the  great 
majority  of  charters  granted  by  the  Wisconsin  legislature. 

Wisconsin  plank-road  charters,  also,  do  not  essentially 
differ  from  the  railroad  charters.  In  fact,  were  we  to  take  a 
typical  plank- road  or  turnpike  charter,  and  make  several 
minor  changes,  such  as  raising  the  shares  from  $25  or  $50 
to  $100,  and  substitute  the  word  "  railroad  "  for  "  plank- 
road, "  we  would  have  a  charter  which  in  all  essentials 
would  be  akin  to  the  ordinary  railroad  charter. 

We  find,  then,  that  Wisconsin  charters  do  not  differ  much 
from  charters  of  other  states;  and  that  all  of  them  follow 
closely  the  structure  of  the  first  English  charter,  which  in 
turn  contained  bodily  many  of  the  provisions  of  the  Eng- 
lish canal  charters.  The  history  of  Wisconsin  railroad 
charters  thus  has  its  origin  in  the  English  canal  legisla- 
tion, beginning  with  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century; 
and  canal  acts,  in  turn,  find  their  prototype  in  the  turnpike 
acts  of  the  seventeenth  century.  From  the  carefully -drawn, 
definite,  and  more  restrictive  English  charters,  and  many 
of  those  of  our  Eastern  states,  Wisconsin  charters  show  a 
gradual  change  towards  unguarded,  indefinite,  and  un- 
restrictive  grants  of  power.  The  downfall  of  the  custom 
of  presenting  memorials  or  petitions,  or  of  embodying 
comprehensive  preambles  in  charters,  in  which  careful 


2Q2  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.xiv. 

estimates  of  competent  persons  were  clearly  presented, 
and  the  social  and  economic  effects  of  the  project  often 
prudently  outlined,  was  no  doubt  a  potent  cause  of  the 
reckless  legislation  which  characterized  our  railroad  his- 
tory. Surveys  and  estimates,  on  the  basis  of  which  the 
proper  amount  of  capital  stock  might  have  been  fixed,  were 
usually  mere  guesses;  although  guesses  even,  were  not 
always  demanded.  To  ask  for  a  charter  was  to  get  it, 
provided  the  proper  "  methods "  had  been  employed.  In 
case  of  the  Liverpool  &  Manchester  charter,  the  battle 
in  parliament  was  fought  over  the  preamble,  which  set 
forth  the  necessity  of  the  project,  and  analyzed  in  detail 
its  probable  effects.  We  abandoned  the  preamble,  and 
thereafter  never  asked  whether  or  not  the  charter  sought 
would  be  a  benefit  or  a  curse.  We  never  asked  whether 
the  subscribers  of  stock  to  a  half-million-dollar  enterprise 
had  ever  paid  even  a  small  part  of  their  subscription;  or, 
whether  a  "  prominent  stockholder "  in  a  dozen  different 
enterprises,  involving  perhaps  millions  of  "  capital  stock, " 
had  enough  property  to  pay  his  tailor.  We  were  western- 
ers, with  a  western  spirit;  under  the  garb  of  push  and 
enterprise,  which  pretended  primarily  to  develop  our  great 
resources,  not  only  the  genuine  railroad  builder  but  also  the 
"  manipulator  "  put  in  his  work.  A  spirit  of  carelessness 
on  the  one  hand,  singular  credulity  on  the  other,  and  a 
dominant  combination  of  unscrupulous  exploiters  seem  to- 
gether to  have  been  responsible  for  that  heterogeneous 
aggregation  of  statutory  phrases  which  the  legislature  of 
Wisconsin  granted  under  the  title  of  railroad  charters. 
That  some  of  the  railroads  built  and  operated  under  these 
charters  have  become  important  economic  agencies  can 
not  alter  these  conclusions.  No  one  would  belittle  the 
great  service  which  our  railroads  have  performed  in  the 
past,  and  which,  happily,  they  are  performing  more  and 
more  effectively  as  time  goes  on.  But  the  economic  effect 
of  a  railroad  is  one  thing;  the  nature  of  its  charter  as 
originally  granted,  is  quite  another.  And  in  this  chapter 
the  only  aim  has  been  to  present  a  critical  and  compara- 
tive view  of  the  charters  themselves. 


1836-53*]          WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  293 


APPENDIX. 

ANALYTICAL  DIGEST  OF    EARLY  WISCONSIN   RAILROAD 
CHARTERS,  1836-53. 

The  material  contained  in  this  summary  was  originally 
prepared  by  the  author  for  an  analytical  table  of  charters 
which,  because  of  the  peculiar  typographical  difficulties  in- 
volved, is  not  reproduced  here.  Following  the  same  order 
in  each  charter,  number  1  stands  for  the  date  of  the  char- 
ter; 2,  for  the  page  reference  to  the  Laws  of  Wisconsin; 
3,  number  of  commissioners;  4,  number  of  members  in  the 
board  of  directors;  5,  capital  stock;  6,  size  of  share;  7, 
number  of  shares  required  to  organize;  8,  payment  on  each 
share  required  at  the  time  of  subscription;  9,  maximum 
"calls;"  10,  length  of  notice  for  calls;  11,  shareholders' 
votes;  12,  when  construction  of  railroad  must  begin;  13, 
when  the  construction  must  be  completed;  14,  termini;  15, 
provisions  for  junctions,  branches,  and  extensions;  16,  to 
whom  disputes  on  expropriation  are  referred;  17,  are  ad- 
vantages and  disadvantages  considered  in  the  valuation  of 
land;  18,  amount  of  land  the  company  may  hold;  19,  miles 
of  railroad  which  must  be  completed  before  company  may 
open  traffic;  20,  provisions  on  rates;  21,  annual  report 
made  to  whom;  22,  who  may  use  railroad;  23,  liability  of 
stockholders;  24,  distribution  of  dividends;  25,  power  to 
borrow  money;  26,  is  power  to  consolidate  granted;  27, 
other  characteristics;  X  denotes,  in  the  charter,  an  absence 
of  provision  under  the  head  enumerated: 

1.  La  Fontaine  R.  R.  Co.  1—1836,  Dec.  3;  2—1836,  33;  3—3,  called 
"directors;"  4— X;  5— $50,000;  6— 50;  7— X;  8— X;  9— X;  10—30 
days;  11— X;  12— July  4, 1837;  13—5  years;  14— Winnebago  City  and 
La  Fontaine;  15— X;  16— X;  17— X;  18— X;  19— X;  20— legislature 
may  limit  at  any  time;  21 — X;  22 — X;  23 — X;  24 — company  shall 
divide  among  stockholders;  25— X;  26— X. 


2Q4  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

2.  Du  Buque    &   Belmont.     1—1836,    Dec.   7;  2—1836,  54;  3—9;  4—7; 

5— $250,000;  6-100;  7— X;  8— X;  9— X;  10—30  days;  11— X;  12— X; 
13— X;  14 — Belmont  and  some  point  on  the  Mississippi  River;  15 — 
branch  to  Mineral  Point  and  Dodge ville;  16 — justice  of  the  peace 
notifies  the  sheriff,  who  summons  a  jury  of  eighteen  persons;  17 — 
yes;  18 — sufficient  for  construction;  holding  and  speculating  in 
other  lands  forbidden;  19— X;  20 -six  cents  per  passenger-mile, 
and  fifteen  cents  per  ton-mile;  21 — to  stockholders,  annually,  by 
board  of  directors;  22 — X;  23 — stock  liable  for  payment  of  debts, 
provided  all  debts  due  the  company  have  been  paid;  24 — like  1, 
but  capital  stock  shall  remain  unimpaired;  25  —X;  26 — X. 

3.  Root  River.    1—1838,   Jan.    11;    2-1837-33,  197;    3-5;   4-X;   5— 

$25,000;  6—50;  7— X;  8-X;  9— X;  10—30  days;  11— X;  12— July  4, 1838, 
and  by  amendment  to  July  4,  1839;  13—5  years;  14 — at  or  near  Ball's 
mill  on  Root  River  to  the  rapids  in  the  same;  15— X;  16— like  2, 
except  that  jury  consists  of  five  persons;  17 — X;  18— like  2; 
19— X;  20 — legislature  may  limit  at  any  time;  21— X;  22 — X; 
23— X;  24— X;  25— X;  26— X;  27— there  is  a  forfeiture  clause  in  the 
time  limit. 

4.  Pekatonica  &  Mississippi.    1—1839,  March  6;  2—1838-39,  74;  3—8; 

4—3;  5— $50,000;  6-100;  7-X;  8-5;  9— X;  10-30  days;  11— one 
vote  per  share;  12 — 3  years;  13 — 10  years;  14 — from  Mineral  Point 
to  some  point  on  the  Mississippi  River  in  Grant  county;  15 — X; 
16 — arbritration;  each  party  names  one  arbitrator;  these  name  a 
third;  the  three  together  decide;  may  appeal  to  court  from  decision 
of  arbitrators;  17— yes;  18—100  feet;  19— X;  20— passengers  three 
cents  per  mile,  freight  five  cents  per  ton-mile,  and  1^  cents  per  ton- 
mile  when  other  parties  use  the  track;  21 — legislature  may  demand 
a  report  at  any  time;  22 — any  person  using  suitable  and  proper  car- 
riages and  paying  the  legal  toll;  23— X;  24— everything;  25— X; 
26— X;  27— if  local  newspapers  refuse  to  publish  notices,  these 
shall  be  given  by  affixing  the  same  to  the  door  of  the  court  house  of 
said  counties.  The  Territory  or  future  State  shall  at  any  time  have 
power  to  purchase  said  road  on  payment  of  full  cost  of  construction 
and  equipment,  including  7  per  cent,  on  total  outlay. 
5.  Michigan  &  Rook  River.  1—1840,  Jan.  8;  2—1839-40,  12;  3—7;  4—7; 
5— $100,000;  6—100;  7— X;  8—1;  9— X;  10— X;  11— one  per  share;  12—3 
years;  13—10  years;  14— from  Rock  River  at  Illinois  State  line  to  some 
point  on  Lake  Michigan  in  the  town  of  Southport;  15— may  build 
branches  and  junctions;  16— county  commissioner,  who  appoints 
three  appraisers;  17 — X;  18 — what  may  be  necessary;  19 — X;  20 — X; 
21— X;  22— X;  23— X;  24— X;  25— X;  26— yes;  27— the  word  "depot  " 
is  used;  previously,  "  toll-houses  "  had  been  used,  and  is  also  found 
in  subsequent  charters;  company  subject  to  the  "  Act  Concerning 


1836-53-]          WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  295 

Corporations;"  this  charter  shall  be  deemed  a  public  act  and  con- 
strued beneficially  for  all  purposes  herein  specified  or  intended. 

6.  Sheboygan  &  Fond  du  Lac.    1—1847,  Jan.  25;  2—1847,  23;  3-7;  4— 

one  president,  twelve  directors,  and  such  other  officers  as  may  be 
necessary;  5— $900,000;  6— 100;  7—5,000;  8— 5;  9— any  sum;  10—30 
days,  and  1  per  cent,  per  month  for  delayed  payments;  11 — one  vote 
per  share  up  to  five,  then  one  vote  additional  for  every  five  shares; 
12— 5  years;  13—15  years;  14— Sheboygan,  Pond  du  Lac;  15— X;  16— 
judge  of  district  court  to  appoint  3  commissioners;  17— yes;  18 — not 
to  exceed  80  feet  in  width;  19 — 10  miles;  20— left  to  company;  legis- 
lature may  alter  or  reduce  tolls  but  not  so  as  to  bring  profits  of  com- 
pany below  12  per  [cent  on  investment;  21 — shall  report  annually  to 
legislature;  22— X;  23— X;  24 — distribute  twice  a  year;  10  per  cent  of 
dividends  over  and  above  ten  per  cent  to  be  paid  to  the  State;  25 — 
X;  26— X;  27 — an  amendment  (Feb.  11,  page  180)  gives  company  cor- 
porate power  when  2, 000 shares  have  been  subscribed.  It  also  gives 
company  power  to  transport  goods  by  power  of  steam,  animals,  etc., 
' '  provided  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  as  in 
any  way  giving  to  the  said  company  any  banking  privileges  what- 
ever, or  any  other  liberties,  privileges,  or  franchises  but  such  as  may 
be  necessary  or  incident  to  the  making  and  maintaining  of  said  rail- 
road." 

7.  Lake  Michigan  &  Mississippi.     1—1847,  Feb.  4;  2—1847,  72;  3—26; 

4—9;  5— $1,500,000;  6—100;  7—10,000;  8—5;  9— $20;  10—60  days;  11— 
one  per  share;  12 — 3  years,  and  spend  at  least  $50,000;  13 — 10  years; 
14 — some  point  on  Lake  Michigan  south  of  town  eight  to  a  point  on 
the  Mississippi  River  in  Grant  county;  15 — power  to  connect  and  oper- 
ate with  other  roads;  16 — district  judge  appoints  3  commissioners;  an 
amendment  of  1849  changes  it  to  circuit  judge;  17 — yes;  18 — 4  rods 
and  what  is  necessary  for  construction;  19— like  6;  20— like  6;  21 — 
board  of  directors  to  stockholders  and  to  legislature  during  Jan- 
uary of  each  year;  22 — X:  23 — members  of  company  individually  lia- 
ble for  debts  of  company  to  amount  of  stock  held  by  them;  24— X; 
25— X;  26— X;  27— act  to  be  construed  like  5. 

8.  Fond  du  Lac  &  Beaver  Dam.    1—1847,  Feb.  10;  2—1847, 158;  3—13; 

4_9;  5—$500,000;  6-50;  7-2,000;  8-5;  9— $20;  10-60  days;  11— 
one  vote  per  share;  12 — 10  years;  13 — 15  years;  14 — from  some  eligi- 
ble point  in  Fond  du  Lac  county  to  a  like  point  in  the  town  of  Beaver 
Dam;  15-like  7;  16-like  7;  17— yes;  18— like  7;  19— like  6;  20— like 
6;  21— annually  to  stockholders  and  to  legislature;  22— X;  23 — in- 
dividually liable  for  debts  of  company  to  amount  of  stock  held  by 
them;  24— X;  25— X;  26— X;  27— construed  like  5. 

9.  Milwaukee  &   Waukesha  (Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  after  Feb.  1, 

1850).    1—1847,  Feb.  11;  2—1847,  194;    3—9;  4—9;   5-$100,000;  6— 


296  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol. 

100;  7-X;  8-5;  9-$20;  10— 60  days;  11-one  per  share;  12-3  years 
and  spend  $20,000;  13—5  years;  14— Milwaukee,  Prairie ville;  15— 
like  7;  16— like  7,  but  amended  July  6,  1853,  to  have  chief  justice  ap- 
point commissioners  annually;  17— yes;  18— like  7;  19— like  6;  20— 
what  company  thinks  reasonable;  21 — annually  to  stockholders;. 
22— X;  23— like  2;  24— X;  25— X,  but  by  amendment  of  Feb.  11, 
1851,  company  empowered  to  borrow  money  "  for  any  rate  of  interest 
*  *  *  any  law  on  the  subject  of  usury  in  this  State  or  any  other 
State  where  such  transactions  may  be  made,  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding; "  26— X;  27— important  amendments  Feb.  1,  1850, 
and  Feb.  11,  1851. 

10.  Madison  &  Beloit  (Rock  River  Valley  Union  after  Feb.  9,   1851).. 

1—1848,  Aug.  19;  2-1848,  161;  3—14;  4—9,  by  amendment  15;  5— 
$350,000;  6-100;  7—300;  8—5;  9—25  percent;  10— 30  days;  11— one 
per  share;  12 -X;  13— X;  14-Beloit,  Janesville,  Madison;  15— 
amendment  of  March  11,  1851,  gives  power  to  extend  and  connect;. 
16— arbitration  like  4;  appeal  to  court  of  proper  jurisdiction;  amend- 
ment like  15;  17— no;  18—100  ft.;  19— X;  20— board  of  directors  fix; 
21 — X;  22 — like  4;  23 — X;  24 — distribution  of  every  thing  above  6  per 
cent  net  on  capital  stock;  not  more  than  1  per  cent  shall  remain 
undivided  for  more  than  6  months;  25— X;  26 — X;  27 — shall  cause- 
an  estimate  of  probable  costs  for  each  mile  separately  to  be  made. 
"  For  each  mile  separately,"  struck  out  by  amendment  of  March  11, 
1851. 

11.  Beloit  &  Taycheedah.    1—1848,  Aug.  19;  2-1848,  166;  3—19;  4— 12;. 

5-$800,000;  6-50;  7—2,000;  8—5;  9—10  per  cent;  10-30  days;  11— 
one  per  share;  12 — X;  13 — X;  14 — Beloit  (intermediate  points  named), 
Taycheedah;  15-X;  16— like  10;  17-no;  18-100  ft;  19— like  6;  20— 
like  6;  21— to  legislature;  22-like  4;  23— X;  24— like  4;  25— X;  26— 
X;  27 — shall  cause  an  estimate  to  be  made  of  the  probable  cost  of 
each  mile  separately;  subject  to  general  laws  on  corporations. 

12.  Shullsburg  Branch.    1—1850,  Feb.  9;  2-1850,  151;  3—7;  4-9;  5— 

$100,000;  6—50;  7—400;  8—5;  9—25  per  cent;  10—30  days;  11— one 
per  share;  12— X;  13— X;  14— Shullsburg  to  a  point  in  the  Chicago 
&  Galena  R.  R.;  15— branch  north;  16— like  10;  17— no;  18—100  ft.;. 
19— X;  20— X;  21— like  4;  22— X;  23— like  10;  25— amendment  March 
11,  1851,  to  borrow  money,  and  issue  bonds  not  to  exceed  %  of  the 
amount  actually  expended;  26 — X. 

13.  Madison,  Waterford,  &  Kenosha.    1—1850,    Feb.  9;  2—1850, 151^ 

3—7;  4—9;  5— $800,000;  6—100;  7—500;  8—5;  9—25  per  cent;  10—30 
days;  11 — one  per  share;  12 — X;  13 — X;  14— Kenosha  to  any  R.  R.  in 
Rock  county;  15 — may  extend  south  to  State  line;  16— like  4;  17 — 
no;  18-100  ft;  19— X;  20— X;  21— X;  22— X;  23— X;  24— X;  25— X^ 
26-X. 


1836-53-]       WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  2Q7 

14.  Potosi  &  Dodgeville.    1—1851,  Feb.  10;  2—1851,  37;  3—16;  4—9;  5— 

$400,000;  6—100;  7—1,000;  8—5;  9— $20;  10—60  days;  11— one  per  share; 
12—3  years;  13 — X;  14 — Potosi,  Dodgeville;  15 — connect  with  any 
R.  R.  within  the  limits  of  Grant  and  Iowa  counties,  also  extend  road; 
16 — circuit  judge  to  appoint  3  commissioners;  17 — yes:  18 — 5  rods; 
19 — like  6;  20— what  company  thinks  reasonable;  21— to  stockhold- 
ers; 22— X;  23— like  2;  24— X;  25— amendment  Feb.  28,  1852,  power 
to  borrow  any  sum,  at  any  rate,  give  bonds;  26 — X;  27 — forfeiture 
clause;  contradictory  provisions  on  width  of  strip  of  land. 

15.  Milwaukee  &  Fond  du  Lac.    1—1851,  Feb.  21;  2—1851, 72;  3-25;  4— 

13;  5—$800,000;  6—100;  7—500;  8—5;  9— $10;  10— 30  days;  11— one  per 
share;  12—3  years;  13— X;  14— Milwaukee,  Iron  Ridge,  Fond  du  Lac; 
15 — extend  termini  and  connect  with  any  R.  R.  in  Wisconsin;  16— 
circuit  judge  appoints  3  commissioners;  appeal  tried  by  jury;  17 — yes; 
18—5  rods;  19—5  miles;  20— like  14;  21— X;  22— X;  23— like  2;  24— X; 
25— like  amendment  to  9;  26— X. 

16.  Madison  &  Swan  Lake.    1—1851,  March  11;  2—1851, 172;  3—11;  4—9; 

5— $500,000;  6--100;  7-300;  8-5;  9-$20;  10-60  days;  11-one  per  share; 
12—5  years,  and  spend  $2,000;  13—6  years;  14— defined;  15— connect 
and  extend;  16— like  15;  17— yes;  18— like  14;  19— like  15;  20— like  14; 
21— to  stockholders;  22— X;  23-X;  24— X;  25— X;  26— X. 

17.  Green  Bay,  Milwaukee,  &  Chicago.    1—1851,  March  13;  2—1851,  256; 

3—20;  4-9;  5-$500,000;  6—100;  7—1,000;  8—5;  9—25  per  cent;  10— 
30  days;  11 — one  per  share;  12 — X,  but  by  amendment  of  March  4, 
1852,  2  years;  13—10  years;  14 — named;  15— amendment  of  March  4, 
1852,  connect  and  extend;  16— arbitration  like  4;  17— X;  18—100  ft.; 
19— X;  20— X;  21— X;  22— X;  23— X;  24— like  10;  25— like  amendment 
to  9;  26— X;  27— estimates  required. 

18.  Milwaukee  &   Watertown.    1—1851,  March  11;  2—1851,  180;  3-19; 

4-13;  5— $500,000;  6— 100;  7-500:  8—5;  9— $10;  10-30  days;  11-same 
as  above;  ]2 — 3  years;  13 — X;  14 — a  specified  branch;  15 — extend  and 
connect;  16— arbitration  like  4;  17— X;  18—100  ft.;  19— X;  20— X;  21— 
X;  22— X;  23— X;  24— X;  25— like  amendment  to  9;  26— X;  27— 
company  not  allowed  to  build  through  an  orchard,  garden,  etc. 

19.  Fort  Winnebago,  Baraboo  Valley,  &  Minnesota.    1 — 1851,  March 

13;  2—1851,  261;  3—19;  4—13;  5— $1,000,000;  6—50;  7—500;  8—5;  9— 
$10;  10—30  days;  11— above;  12—3  years;  13— X;  14— northern  ter- 
minus not  fixed;  15— connect}  16— like  15;  17— yes;  18—5  rods;  19— 
like  15;  20-like  14;  21— X;  22— X;  23— like  2;  24— X;  25-like  amend- 
ment to  9;  26— X. 

20.  Manitowoc  &  Mississippi.    1—1851,  March  15;  2—1851,  373;  3—11; 

4—9;  5— $1,500,000;  6—100;  7—2,000;  8—5;  9— $20;  10—60  days;  11— 
above;  12—3  years  and  spend  $50,000;  13—10  years;  14— fixed;  15— 
connect;  16— like  15;  17— yes;  18—4  rods;  19— like  6;  20-like  14;  21— 
to  stockholders;  22— X;  23— like  2;  24— X;  25— X;  26— X. 


2Q8  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.       [vol.  xiv. 

21.  Delavan.    1—1851,  March  17;  2—1851,  414;  3-15;  4—9;  [5— $200,000; 

6—50;  7—4,000;  8—5;  9—25  percent;  10— 30 days;  11-above;  12-X; 
13— X;  14— one  fixed;  15 -X;  16 -arbitration  like  4;  17— X;  18—100 
ft.;  19— X;  20-X;  21— X;  22— X;  23— X;  24-X;  25— X;  26-X. 

22.  Beloit  &  Madison.    1—1852,  Feb.  18;  2—1852,  55;  3—20;  4-13;   5- 

$1,200,000;  6-50;  7—400;  8-5;  9— X;  10— X;  11— above;  12— X;  13— 
X;  14-fixed  route;  15— connect;  16— like  15;  17— yes;  18—100  ft.; 
19— X;  20— X;  21-like  20;  22— X;  23— X;  24— distribute  what  ex- 
ceeds 6  per  cent  of  net  profits  on  capital  stock;  25 — like  amendment 
to  9;  26— yes. 

23.  Sheboygan  &  Mississippi.    1—1852.  March  8;  2—1852,  154;   3—13; 

4—13;  5— $3,000,000;  6—100;  7— 3CO;  8—5;  9-$12;  10-30  days;  11— 
above;  12 — X;  13 — 15  years;  14 — "to  Mississippi  river;"  15 — re- 
fusal to  allow  connection,  carried  to  supreme  court  who  appoint  a 
commission  of  three;  16— any  judge  of  supreme  court  appoint  3 
commissioners,  appeal  to  circuit  court  and  have  jury  trial;  17— X; 
18-130  ft.;  19-X;  20— X;  21— like  20;  22— X;  23— X;  24— X;  25— 
like  amendment  to  9;  26 — yes. 

24.  Cascade  &  Lake  Michigan.    1—1352,  March  23;  2—1852,  235;  3— 

one  commissioner  is  named,  who  together  with  stockholders  shall 
organize;  5— $25,000;  6— X;  7— X;  8— X;  9— X;  10— X;  11— X;  12— X; 
13—10;  14— entire  route  definitely  fixed;  15—  X;  16— arbitration  like 
4;  17— X;  18—4  rods;  19— X;  20— X;  21— X;  22— X;  23— X;  24— X; 
25 — X;  26 — X;  27 — personal  and  real  property  of  company  taxed  like 
other  property;  labor  claims  first  lien  on  property  of  company. 

25.  Fond  du  Lac,  Beaver  Dam,  Columbus,  &  Madison.    1 — 1852,  March 

23;  2—1852,254;  3—15;  4—13;  5— $1,000,000;  6—50;  7—400;  8—5;  9— 
$2.50;  10-30  days;  11— above;  12— 3  years;  13— X;  14— named;  15— 
connect;  16— arbitration  like  4;  17— X;  18— 4  rods;  19— X;  20— X;  21— 
like  20;  22-X;  23-X;  24— like  22;  25— like  amendment  to  9;  26— X. 

26.  Madison  &  Prairie  du   Chien.    1—1852,  March  24;  2-1852,  272; 

3—11;  4—9;  5— $500,000;  6— 100;  7— 1,000;  8—5;  9 -$20;  10-60  days; 
11 — above;  12 — 5  years;  13 — X;  14 — named;  15 — connect;  16 — like  15; 
17_yes;  18—5  rods;  19— like  6;  20— like  14;  21— like  20;  22— X;  23— 
like  2;  24— X;  25— X;  26— X;  27— special  grant  of  power  to  connect. 

27.  Green  Bay  &  Lake  Superior.    1—1852,  March  24;  2—1852,  283;  3— 

9;  4—9;  5— $500,000;  6—50;  7—1,000;  8-5;  9— 10  per  £cent;  10—30 
days;  11— above;  12— X;  13— X;  14— general;  15— X;  16— like  15; 
17— X;  18—100  ft.;  19— like  6;  20— like  6;  21— to  stockholders  and 
legislature;  22— like  4;  23— X;  24— like  4;  25— X;  26— X;  27— esti- 
mate required. 

28.  La  Crosse  <Sc  Milwaukee.    1—1852,  April  2;  2—1852,  325;  3—17;  4— 

7;  5~$4,000,000;  6—100;  7—500;  8—5;  9  and  10— left  to  directors; 
11— above;  12 — 3;  13 — 10;  14 — named;  15 — connect  and  build  branches; 
the  latter  repealed  on  April  19,  1852;  16 — judge  of  county  court 


1836-53-]        WISCONSIN   RAILROAD   LEGISLATION.  2Q9 

or  chairman  of  county  board  of  supervisors  appoint  three  arbitra- 
tors; 17— X;  18—100  ft.;  19— like  15;  20— X;  21— like  20;  22— X; 
23— like  2,  repealed  April  19,  1852;  24— X;  25— like  amendment  to  9; 
26 — power  to  purchase  or  lease  other  roads;  special  provision  for  a 
probable  congressional  land  grant. 

29.  Southern  Wisconsin.    1—1852,  April  10;  2—1852,  363;  3—9;  4—9  to 

15;  5— $1,500,000;  6—100;  7—700;  8— X;  9— $12;  10—30  days;  11— 
above;  12 — 2;  13 — X;  14 — "to  some  point  on  Mississippi;"  15 — con- 
nect; 16— like  23;  17— yes;  18—130  ft.;  19— X;  20— X;  21— like  20; 
22— X;  23— X;  24— X;  25— like  amendment  to  9;  26— yes. 

30.  Madison,  Ft.  Atkinson,  &  Whitewater.    1—1852,  April  14;  2—1852, 

487;  3—18;  4—13;  5-$800,000;  6—50;  7—200;  8—5;  9-12.50;  10-30 
days;  11 — above;  12 — 3  years;  13 — X;  14 — named;  15 — connect  and 
"operate  with  other  railroads;"  16— like  15;  17— X;  18—100  ft.; 
19— X;  20— X;  21— like  20;  22— X;  23— X;  24— like  22;  25— like  amend- 
ment to  9;  26—"  to  operate  other  railroads." 

31.  Portage   City,  Stevens  Point,  &  Wausau.    1—1852,  April  16;  2— 

1852,  553;  3—13;  4-9;  5— $1,000,000;  6— X;  7—100,000;  8—5;  9—25 
percent;  10— 30  days;  11— above;  12— X;  13— X;  14— named;  15— X; 
16— arbitration  like  4;  17-X;  18—100  ft.;  19-X;  20-X;  21-X; 
22— X;  23— X;  24— X;  25— like  amendment  to  9;  26— X. 
52.  Racine,  Janesville,  &  Mississippi.  1—1852,  April  17;  2—1852,  591; 
3—13;  4—13;  5-$3,000,000;  6—100;  7—300;  8—5;  9-$12;  10-30  days; 
11 — above;  12 — 5  years;  13—10  years;  14— named;  15 — connect;  16 — 
like  23;  17— yes;  18-130  ft.;  19— X;  20— X;  21— like  20;  22— X; 
23— X;  24 — X;  25 — like  amendment  to  9;  26— yes;  amendment  of 
March  19,  1853,  authorizes  company  to  build  by  sections. 

33.  Mineral  Point.    1—1852,  April  17;  2—1852,  624;  3—16;  4—9,  amended 

to  5  to  15;  5— $500,000;  6—100;  7-1,000;  8-5;  9-$20;  10—60  days; 
11 — above;  12 — 3  years;  13 — X;  14 — general;  15 — connect  and  operate 
with  other  railroads;  16— like  15;  17— X;  18—5  rods;  19— like  6; 
20-like  14;  21— like  20;  22— X;  23— like  2;  24— X;  25-like  amend- 
ment to  9;  26— X;  27— may  increase  stock. 

34.  Northwestern.    1—1852,   April  17;   2—1852,  646;  3—5;    4—9   to   13; 

5— $2,000,000;  6—100;  7—500;  8— X;  9— $12;  10—30  days;  11— 
above;  12—10  years;  13— X;  14— general;  15— connect;  16— like 
23;  17— yes;  18—130  ft.;  19— X;  20— X;  21— like  20;  22— recipro- 
cal use  of  railroads,  cars,  engines,  etc.,  each  to  use  the  R.  R.  of 
other;  in  case  of  disagreement  as  to  terms,  the  supreme  court  ap- 
points a  commission  who  sh'all  fix  the  terms  of  such  reciprocal  use; 
23— X;  24— X;  25— like  amendment  to  9  (?);  26— yes. 

35.  Milwaukee  &  Horicon.    1—1852,  April  17;  2-1852,  675;  3—9;  4—7; 

5— $800,000;  6—100;  7—500;  8—5;  9— $10;  10—30  days;  11— above; 
12—5  years;  13—15  years;  14— named;  15— connect  and  operate  with 
others;  extension  specifically  provided  for;  16 — like  15;  17 — yes;  18 — 


300  WISCONSIN   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS.      [voL 

5  rods;  19— like  15;  20— like  14;  21— like  20;  22-X;  23-like  2;  24— X^ 
25— like  amendment  to  9;  26— implied  (?). 

36.  Watertown   &  Berlin.     1—1853,  Feb.   11;   2—1853,  21;    3—41;    4— 

fifteen  to  be  chosen  at  first  election,  7  to  20;  5— $1,000,000;  6—100; 
7—100;  8—5  per  cent;  9  and  10— left  to  board  of  directors;  11— 
above;  12 — 3  years;  13 — 10  years;  14 — general;  15 — connect  and 
operate;  16— arbitration,  special;  17— X;  18—100  ft.;  19— like  15; 
20— like  14;  21— like  20;  22— X;  23— X;  24— X;  25-at  any  rate, 
"any  law  on  the  subject  of  usury  in  this  State  notwithstanding;'* 
26 — X,  may  lease  or  purchase. 

37.  Michigan  &    Wisconsin   Transit.    1—1853,  Feb.    28;   2—1853,  60? 

3 — eighteen  who  at  once  form  a  body  corporate;  these  elect  nine 
directors;  5—86,000,000  to  $15,000,000;  6—100;  7—2,000;  8—5  per 
cent;  9— left  to  board  of  directors;  never  to  exceed  $100  per  share? 
10 — 30  days;  11 — above;  12 — X;  13 — 15  years;  14 — general;  15 — con- 
nect; 16— arbitration,  special;  17— X;  18—100  ft.;  19— X;  20— like 
14;  21 — to  stockholders  and  legislature;  22 — any  person  who  gets 
license  from  company;  23 — like  personal  property;  24 — annual  or 
semi-annual  distribution;  25— any  amount;  26 — may  connect  them- 
selves in  business;  27 — provisions  on  discrimination;  banking,  bro- 
kerage, and  dealing  in  produce  is  prohibited;  taxes,  first  lien;  carry 
U.  S.  mail;  elaborate  report  required. 

38.  Kenosha   &  Beloit.    1—1853,   March  4;  2—1853,   121;  3—14;  4—13, 

and  7  to  15;  5— $100,000;  6—100;  7—400;  8—5;  9  and  10— left  to 
directors;  11— above;  12—3  years  and  spend  $25,000;  13— X;  14— 
named;  15— connect,  purchase,  lease;  16 — like  36;  17 — X;  18 — 100 
ft.;  19— like  15;  20— like  14;  21— like  20;  22— X;  23— X;  24— X; 
25 — any  sum,  any  rate;  26— yes;  27 — by-laws  not  to  be  inconsistent 
with  constitution  of  U.  S.  or  of  State. 

39.  Wisconsin    Central.    1—1853,   March    4;    2—1853,   131;    3—23;   4— 

like  38;  5— $1,000,000;  6—100;  7—200;  8—5;  9  and  10-left  to  direct- 
ors; 11 — above;  12—3;  13 — 10;  14 — general;  15 — connect,  operate, 
lease,  or  purchase;  16— supreme  or  circuit  judge  appoints  3  com- 
missioners; 17— X;  18— 100ft.;  19— like  15;  20— like  14;  21— like  20; 
22— X;  23— X;  24— X;  25-like  38;  26— yes. 

40.  Green  Bay  &  Minnesota.    1—1853,  March  7;  2—1853,  147;  3— 16? 

4—13,  and  5  to  15;  5-$4, 000, 000;  6—100;  7—1,000;  8—5;  9  and  10— 
like  39:  11— above;  12—3,  and  spend  $25,000  in  10  years;  13— X;. 
14 — general;  15 — connect,  operate,  lease,  purchase;  16 — like  36;  17 — 
X;  18—100  ft.;  19— like  15;  20— like  14;  21— like  20;  22— X;  23— 
like  2;  24— X;  25— like  36;  26— implied;  27—100  feet  through  State 
lands  granted. 

Other  charters  were  analyzed,  but  this  summary  of  the 
first  forty  is  probably  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  author's 
methods,  and  data  upon  which  the  second  chapter  is  based. 


— 


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YC164709 


